Armored bush crickets (Acanthoplus spp) are sporadic but economically important pests of cereals in several countries in southern Africa. In outbreak seasons, A. discoidalis J. Irish causes on average 30% grain yield loss on pearl millet in Namibia (Wohlleber 1996), while A. speiseri Brancsik causes up to 60% yield losses on sorghum in the Gwembe valley of southern Zambia (Musonda and Leuschner 1990). In both countries, and in neighboring Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi , and Tanzania, the pest is a threat to poor farmers' livelihoods both in outbreak seasons and also in years of low pest population density.