Oedipoda caerulescens

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Oedipoda caerulescens
Blue-winged grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens) male.jpg
Male
Nature Park of Alvão, Portugal
Oedipoda caerulescens MHNT.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Caelifera
Family: Acrididae
Subfamily: Oedipodinae
Tribe: Oedipodini
Genus: Oedipoda
Species:
O. caerulescens
Binomial name
Oedipoda caerulescens
Synonyms

Oedipoda fasciata Fischer, 1853

Close-Up of a Oedipoda caerulescens
Oedipoda caerulescens Oedipoda caerulescens 1.jpg
Oedipoda caerulescens

The blue-winged grasshopper, Oedipoda caerulescens, [1] is a grasshopper in the genus Oedipoda .

Contents

Distribution

This species occurs in Europe, North Africa and Asia. [2] It was recently rediscovered in the Maltese islands. [3]

Morphological description

Oedipoda caerulescens is a medium-sized grasshopper, between 15 and 21 mm for males and between 22 and 28 mm for females. The body coloration varies greatly depending on the substrate on which the animals have developed: reddish brown, gray, yellowish, or even completely dark or bright. The forewings are crossed most often by two or three pale bands, but the most striking characteristic, very visible when the insect flies away, is the bright coloration of the hind wings, a beautiful turquoise highlighted with a black marginal stripe. Furthermore, the posterior femora have a notch on their upper surface. At rest, confusion is possible with other Oedipoda species such as O. germanica .

Ecology

Oedipoda caerulescens frequents dry areas with low and open vegetation: dunes, heathlands, grasslands on sand and sunlit limestone rocks. Many stations correspond to land recently used for human activities, such as coal spoil heaps, quarries and pits, the ballast of railway tracks, etc. It is exclusively a terrestrial insect, and its cryptic coloration often matches its substrate. It presses itself to the ground and remains motionless, and jumps only at the very close approach of danger. A remarkable behavior is the "hook" landing which serves to confuse potential attackers. Thus, the grasshopper lands and swings round to face the direction it has come from. The sudden disappearance of the blue hind wings of the adult makes it difficult for predators to shift quickly enough to a different kind of search to relocate the prey. [4] The female lays her eggs in bare, dry soil. In this species, acoustic emissions are virtually nonexistent. The diet consists mainly of grasses.

Subspecies

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Tropidacris cristata, the giant red-winged grasshopper, is a widespread species of lubber grasshopper in the family Romaleidae from tropical South and Central America, and Mexico. It is among the largest grasshoppers in the world by length and wingspan, reaching up to 14.5 cm (5.7 in) and 24 cm (9.4 in) respectively. More typical adult lengths are 5.5–7 cm (2.2–2.8 in), average 6.5 cm (2.6 in), in males and 7–12 cm (2.8–4.7 in), average 11 cm (4.3 in), in females. As suggested by the common name, adult T. cristata have conspicuously red wings in flight, although the exact red hue varies. The flightless and gregarious nymphs have aposematic dark-and-yellow stripes and are presumed to be toxic.

References

  1. Linnaeus. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna tria naturae (10th ed.) 1:432.
  2. [orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1103489 Orthoptera Species File (Version 5.0/5.0)]
  3. Sciberras A (2010) Notes on two Orthoptera (Acridoidea) species of the Maltese Islands. Central Mediterranean Naturalist 5(2):73-76. Nature Trust Malta publications.
  4. Kral, K. (2010) Escape behaviour in blue-winged grasshoppers, Oedipoda caerulescens. Physiological Entomology 35:240-248.