The green grasshopper is a beautiful large insect of bright green or light green color with long translucent wings. Residents of Russia are well acquainted with the green grasshopper, as it lives in almost all landscape areas of the country. Only the climatic conditions of the northern regions are unfavorable for its existence.
The characteristic natural color serves as an excellent means of camouflage for the green grasshopper, which lives mainly in grasses and bushes. From mid-summer to late autumn it can be found in gardens, on the edges of forests, along the edges of fields and meadows. In desert areas, the green grasshopper prefers the edges of tugai forests and river valleys. In Central Asia, it climbs high into the mountains to hide in gorges with lush herbaceous plants. This insect can also be found in many other countries: in European countries (except for Northern European countries), Mongolia, Northern India, countries of Western Asia, Afghanistan, Western China.
All about grasshoppers
- The grasshopper is one of the most ancient insects on Earth. Since their appearance, they have not changed at all.
- The grasshopper is capable of jumping to a height of two meters. If we take into account the size of such an insect, then in jumping ability it is hopeless and far ahead of even the most outstanding jumping athletes.
- Grasshoppers are able to change their own color depending on the shade of the environment, and therefore it is unrealistic to identify a grasshopper by its color.
Protection from predators
They camouflage themselves to avoid detection by predators. Some can change color to match their environment.
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Some species, such as the hooded grasshopper Phyllochoreia ramakrishnai (Eumastacoidea), are detailed leaf mimics. Sticks (Proscopiidae) imitate wooden sticks in shape and color. They often have deimatic patterns on their wings that deter predators.
Others have bright warning colors and enough toxicity to dissuade those who want to eat them.
Description and features
- The grasshopper usually has a body length from 1 to 5 cm, but in some individuals the size of the grasshopper can vary up to 15 cm.
- Such insects are recognized by their long body and laterally compressed head, on which there are 2 compound eyes with an oval shape.
- The grasshopper has quite powerful jaws, and therefore, when bitten by this insect, a person may feel pain.
- Both the adult and the grasshopper larva have a green body color.
- Small black spots can occasionally be found on the body of grasshoppers.
In mechanical engineering
The name "Grasshopper" was given to the light aircraft Aeronca L-3, Piper L-4, which were used for reconnaissance and other support services in World War II. The name is said to have come from Major General Innis P. Swift seeing a Piper make a rough landing. Noticed that he looked like a “damned grasshopper.
The grasshopper engine is a beam engine, pivots at one end, and has a long horizontal arm that resembles the back leg of a grasshopper. The type was patented by William Fremantle in 1803.
Anatomy of a grasshopper
When studying the question of what a grasshopper looks like, it is worth noting that this insect has three pairs of legs. In this case, the front 4 limbs are necessary for the insect to walk. As for the muscular hind legs, they allow the grasshopper to push off from any surface with enormous force, and also make it possible to make an impressive high jump.
The impressive antennae, which are usually longer than the body of the grasshopper, serve as an organ of touch. The body of such an insect itself has 3 sections. The first of them is a large head, on which huge faceted eyes clearly stand out. The other two parts are the chest and belly.
Grasshoppers have two pairs of wings: the first pair is leathery elytra with straight veins, the second pair is membranous wings folded like a fan, on which the veins are located straight.
The grasshopper's nervous system consists of nerve cells freely located in the body. They are called ganglia. These cells generally exist in almost all species. All ganglia are connected to the center - the brain.
Predators, parasites, pathogens
Grasshoppers have a wide range of predators at different life stages. The eggs are eaten by bee flies and ground beetles. Nymphs and adults are ingested by other insects such as ants, sphecid wasps, spiders, birds, and small mammals, including dogs and cats.
Eggs and nymphs are attacked by parasites - blow flies, tachinid flies. External parasites of adults and nymphs are mites. Female grasshoppers with mites produce fewer eggs and therefore have fewer offspring.
The nematode (Mermis nigrescens) is a long worm that infects grasshoppers. Adult worms lay eggs on plants, and the insect becomes infected when it eats the foliage. Spinochordodes tellinii and Paragordius tricuspidatus are parasitic worms that infect grasshoppers and alter their behavior.
When the worms are sufficiently developed, the grasshopper is persuaded to jump into a nearby body of water, where it drowns, allowing the parasite to continue the next stage of its life cycle, which takes place in water.
Locusts are killed by the naturally occurring fungus Metarhizium, an environmentally friendly biological control agent.
Grasshoppers suffer from diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. The bacteria Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, cause diseases in insects. The fungus has been used to control various insect pests around the world.
The infection is usually not fatal; basking in the sun, the body temperature rises, and the fungus dies. The fungal pathogen Entomophaga grylli is able to influence the grasshopper's behavior, causing it to climb to the top of the plant and cling to the stem when it dies. This ensures widespread distribution of fungal spores released from the corpse.
The fungal pathogen Metarhizium acridum is found in Africa, Australia, and Brazil. It is being investigated for possible use as an insecticide to control locusts. Microsporidia of the fungus Nosema locustae are lethal to grasshoppers.
Where is the grasshopper's ear?
Grasshoppers have two pairs of ears.
The first pair of ears reacts to vibrations that are transmitted along the ground, and they are located under the knees of this insect.
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The second pair of ears is located in the shins of the front legs.
Types of grasshoppers
- The steppe grasshopper is one of the giant grasshoppers. The size of this insect can be up to 8 cm. Their wings are underdeveloped. Usually they are either quite short or completely absent. The color of such a grasshopper is green, and sometimes with a yellowish tint. This type of grasshopper is common in various areas of southern Europe. This insect is especially common in the steppe overgrown with wormwood and in ravines that are covered with sparse bushes. Such grasshoppers are a rare species, and the number of their representatives on Earth is regularly decreasing.
- Green grasshoppers have a body length of approximately 3 cm, but in some situations these insects grow up to 6 cm. Such grasshoppers are found in some European countries, in the territory up to the Far East, and also in Africa.
- The greenhouse grasshopper is the smallest species of these insects. A representative of this type can jump almost 0.5 meters in height. Outwardly, this type of insect resembles not a grasshopper, but a spider, but at the same time they have large antennae, which are responsible for the sense of smell. The color of such creatures is gray or brown. There are usually dark spots on their body. For the most part, such a grasshopper is a resident of the central region of China, but together with plants of this type, insects spread further west to Europe, right up to the Crimea.
- The ball-headed grasshopper is a whole family of large grasshoppers, representatives of the long-whiskered suborder. Their body sizes are large. Such grasshoppers have a large spherical head, and their elytra are shortened. There are approximately 7 species of these grasshoppers in different territories of the former Soviet Union. They can also be found in Eurasia and northern Africa.
- The steppe fatty is a type of insect that is considered a rare species. Today, their habitat has been significantly reduced. It was possible to record the existence of such grasshoppers in the vicinity of Rostov, in the Krasnodar Territory, in Kabardino-Balkaria and other regions of the Russian Federation. This black grasshopper has an unusual body color with a bronze tint.
Harm and benefits of green grasshopper
Many gardeners, seeing an abundance of grasshoppers in their summer cottage or vegetable garden, try to remove them. Usually, remedies for harmful bugs are used. The main goal that people pursue is to prevent insects from breeding. In part, these fears are not unfounded. After all, the larvae that hatch from the eggs eat all day long, and during the first molt, their food becomes precisely fresh young greens.
However, the complete absence of a grasshopper during all periods of its development threatens such an unpleasant consequence for the beds as an increase in the number of phytophages - insects that feed exclusively on plants. And if the presence of a green grasshopper can still be tolerated, the presence of herbivorous creatures will definitely not contribute to a good harvest.
Basically, all the fears of farmers who take sometimes unjustified measures to drive the jumper out of their crops are based on the physiological similarity of the two types of insects. The grasshopper (see photo below) looks like a dangerous pest - a locust. Despite the fact that insects are clearly different from each other, many business owners are intensively reducing the number of both of them with the same intensity.
Lifestyle and habitat
The life of a grasshopper is solitary. They can fly and jump perfectly. They do not have a permanent home, because grasshoppers tend to live on bushes, grass or trees, and in the hot season they can spend days among the greenery, leaving the shelter only early in the morning.
The grasshopper's habitat is varied. They are found everywhere. This insect is considered so hardy and unpretentious to living conditions that it can successfully take root in almost any corner of the world, excluding only those places where there is eternal ice and snow. This insect can be found on the plains, in the highlands, in green meadow grass, in humid, hot jungles, and in arid deserts.
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The grasshopper feels great not only in the steppe, but also in the tropical rainforest and tundra. These insects live on all continents of the Earth except Antarctica.
These creatures conduct their life activities on the surface. Hiding underground and in secluded places under fallen branches and stumps, in holes and hollows of trees is unacceptable for them. Typically, grasshoppers simply move around on grass and other plants in an attempt to hide from the hot sun and bad weather. During the day, such an insect usually rests and hunts only at night.
Adaptation of grasshoppers to their environment
The adaptation of grasshoppers is indicated not only by how the insect behaves: whether it flies or jumps. Grasshoppers have their own techniques for camouflaging themselves with their environment. Some species of grasshoppers can pretend to be damaged leaves. At this moment, their body acquires dots and spots that imitate rot and plant diseases. Some varieties of such insects have irregularities and asymmetrical shortening at the edges of the elytra, which gives the impression of torn leaves or simply pieces of them. Some grasshoppers, due to their dark brown color, imitate scorched and completely rotten wings.
Grasshoppers are cautious insects, and at the slightest noise of footsteps they freeze motionless and become silent. If the enemy approaches, the grasshopper begins to escape with a quick and long jump. At the same time, it pushes off with its hind legs and is able to jump a distance of 1-2 meters.
Like pests
Grasshoppers eat large amounts of foliage both as adults and during development. They can become serious pests of dry lands and prairies. They thrive in warm, sunny conditions, so drought encourages population growth.
One dry season is usually not enough. Several successive dry seasons, especially if the intervening winters are mild, favor the survival of large numbers of nymphs.
It is possible to get rid of grasshoppers by manipulating the environment. The shade of trees prevents their spread. Insecticides can be used, but adults are difficult to kill because they move quickly.
Some types of grasshoppers, such as Chinese rice grasshoppers, are pests in rice fields. The locust invasion has devastating consequences for the population, causing famine. Mentioned in the Koran, Bible.
The insects are responsible for cholera epidemics caused by locust carcasses that drowned in the Mediterranean Sea and decomposed on beaches. Timely application of pesticides prevents the formation of nomadic bands before dense aggregations of adults are formed.
In addition to traditional control using contact insecticides, biological methods of pest control are used. The fungus Metarhizium acridum specifically attacks grasshoppers and has been used with some success.
Nutrition
Grasshoppers eat larvae and small insects. At the same time, they eat small locusts, aphids and ticks.
Speaking about what a grasshopper eats in a meadow, it is worth saying that it eats butterflies, beetles and caterpillars.
In situations of food shortage, especially if they find themselves captive in a confined space, grasshoppers attack their relatives.
To get the right dose of nutrients, protein and salts, these insects consume feces and carrion.
As a plant food, almost all varieties of grasshoppers eat plant leaves, but always only with young shoots. There are species of insects for which this type of nutrition is the main and even the only one.
In literature
Pharaoh Ramesses II compared the Hittite armies to locusts: “They covered the mountains and valleys, they were like locusts in multitude.”
One of Aesop's fables, retold by La Fontaine, is the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper. The ant works all summer while the grasshopper plays. Somerset Maugham's short story "The Ant and the Grasshopper" explores the symbolism of the fable through a complex frame.
Other human weaknesses, besides uncertainty, are identified with the behavior of the grasshopper. Thus, an unfaithful woman (jumping from person to person) is called a “grasshopper” in Anton Chekhov’s short story “The Jumper”, 1892.
Reproduction and lifespan
The time and duration of the mating season for grasshoppers directly depends on the region where they live. In the temperate zone, the mating season begins with the warm days of May and ends around September. Depending on the weather changes of a particular season, the presented dates change.
The seed of a male grasshopper ripens in a special capsule before the mating season. After this, the male hangs the vial on the female’s abdomen, where his seed is located. And so the seminal fluid enters the female oviduct. After this, the female grasshopper bears the testicles and the development of the grasshopper embryo begins.
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After several days, the female lays eggs, choosing the most suitable, secluded and quiet place for this. The number of eggs can be incredibly large: from 100 to 1000 pieces.
After a certain period of time, a grasshopper larva appears. She goes through a number of stages of her development, undergoing up to 6 molts. At the end of this, the larvae form wings and other organs that adults have. Reproductive body parts also appear.
Grasshoppers, whose lifespan is short, even taking into account the egg stage, exist only for one season. Essentially, it is measured by the warm days of a certain year, but the process of reproduction continues until the cold weather.
The female intuitively senses winter, and therefore lays grasshopper eggs directly into the ground. In this state, they tolerate the cold and continue to live next spring, unlike their parents, who die with the onset of frost.
On average, grasshoppers live for about 2 weeks.
Life cycle
In most species, conflicts between individuals rarely go beyond ritual manifestations. Some exceptions include the chameleon grasshopper (Kosciuscola tristis), where males fight over females.
It takes a week or two for the insect to increase in weight and mature. After mating, the female digs a hole and lays a batch of eggs in the ground near the plants. Covers the hole with soil and debris.
The eggs in the pods are glued together with foam. After several weeks of development, eggs of most varieties in temperate climates enter diapause and spend the winter in this state.
Diapause is disrupted at low ground temperatures. In this case, development resumes as soon as the soil warms up above a certain threshold temperature.
The embryos in the pods hatch at intervals of several minutes. The shells are shed, the exoskeletons harden. First instar nymphs can jump from predators.
They undergo incomplete metamorphosis: they molt repeatedly. The number of instars varies between species, but is often six. After the last molt, the wings become fully functional.
The migrating grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes, spends about 25-30 days as a nymph and lives for about 51 days.
Singing grasshoppers
Grasshopper music has different themes. Strong short trills intimidate competitors. Males emit them before fights, in which they often inflict certain damage on the enemy. The outcome of the fight can be fatal, but the most terrible damage is considered to be the loss of the mustache. A beardless male will sink to the lowest rung of the social ladder.
The male also chirps to attract the attention of the female. The louder his love song, the greater the chances for mating and the appearance of offspring. As soon as the female shows some interest in the male, the singing becomes quieter. Then the second part of the “concert” begins - the enchanting one. When grasshoppers perform a romantic serenade, this insect slightly rises on its hind legs and dances.
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The head has a separate apex of the crown, often laterally compressed, sometimes cone-shaped. The tarsus are four-segmented. Pronotum with a flat or convex top and flat lateral lobes drooping downwards. The male elytra often has a chirping organ. The venation with a sharply separated RS, in the area of the chirping organ, is strongly modified. Often the elytra and wings lose their flight functions, but retain, often enhanced, the chirping organ. The female's ovipositor is, with very rare exceptions, long and laterally compressed.
The chirping of a grasshopper: what does a grasshopper chirp with?
These insects are known to everyone for their ability to make unusual sounds - chirping. At the same time, these sounds of a grasshopper are rightfully unique, and also differ in volume, melody and timbre depending on the variety of grasshopper.
Representatives of each species of grasshopper boast a unique sound. The role of the “tool” in this aspect is played by a special membrane, which is located on the left elytra. It has a thick vein with teeth. She is a kind of bow.
