Titanacris albipes is one of the largest grasshoppers in the world with a wingspan of 200 mm. They belong to the Romaleidae family of grasshoppers.
The distribution is concentrated in the Amazon rainforest, with previous sites in French Guiana, Tumnuc Humac, Mato Grosso, and the Guiana-Amazon region.
Titanacris albipes has been observed as scattered individuals in the evergreen tropical wetlands, in the lowland rainforest (French Guiana) and in floodplain forests. Occasionally, denser populations in swarms are also observed.
The development from mating to ovipositing takes about 1 year. The eggs are laid in 60 mm earth funnels, which the female bores into the forest floor of floodplain forests creating a laying sheath and then presses 40-100 eggs into it. Females lay once, rarely twice.
The young that hatch one after the other are sociable, brightly coloured, with black and yellow segments and hatch mainly at the beginning of the rainy season. They initially live in sparse vegetation and disperse when they develop fully and then swarm into the treetops and feed off the leaves.
Life expectancy in females is around 1 year.
Because of their attractiveness, the grasshoppers are also bred for trade and are fed on leaves of blackberry, raspberry, oak and rose. Keeping them requires large terrariums with a temperature of 25-35 ° C and a humidity of 60-80%.
