| Omocestus viridulus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Female | |
 | |
| Dorsal view | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Caelifera |
| Family: | Acrididae |
| Subfamily: | Gomphocerinae |
| Tribe: | Stenobothrini |
| Genus: | Omocestus |
| Species: | O. viridulus |
| Binomial name | |
| Omocestus viridulus | |
Omocestus viridulus, known in the British Isles as the common green grasshopper, [1] is a Palearctic species of grasshopper in the subfamily Gomphocerinae.
Omocestus viridulus are usually green all over, but some may have brown coloration on the sides. [2] In Scandinavia, they are usually green or light brown. [3] The males do not have any red coloring on the abdomen and possess a noticeably long ovipositor, characteristics that help distinguish it from the similar species O. rufipes and O. haemorrhoidalis . The eyes of this species may be brown or yellow. The typical body length is 17–20 millimetres (0.67–0.79 in). [2] They possess a strongly darkened region of the hind wing. [1]
Omocestus viridulus typically lives in moderately wet regions around Europe except north of the Arctic Circle, and it is distributed widely over Britain. Its range extends east as far as Siberia and Mongolia. [1] Their preferred habitat consists of areas with longer grass. [4]
This species prefers to feed on the more common, abundant grass species and this may promote greater diversity of vegetation. O. viridulus feeds on grass from the genera Dactylis , Agrostis , Anthoxanthum , Lolium and Holcus . [5] The life cycle begins with the females laying their clutch of eggs in the top layer of soil or near the root of the grass stalks. [6] The young are called nymphs and emerge the next April. These nymphs resemble miniature versions of the adults with immature wings. After about a month of moulting their exoskeleton several times, they mature into adults with working wings. There is one generation of O. viridulus a year, and they are usually seen between the months of April and October. [2]
Compared to other grasshopper species, the reproductive fitness of O. viridulus tends to be less affected by temperature changes. It has been found that for female O. viridulus, the number of eggs in each pod, and the mass of eggs were not adversely affected by temperature. [4] In the wild, the males find the females quickly and mate, and the females refrain from singing until they lay at least one cluster of eggs. If the male fails to mate with a female, he will sing before trying again. [1]
Songs are produced by a process called stridulation in which the hind leg and wing are rubbed together. [2] Calling songs are used by these grasshoppers in order to attract and find a mate. Although most of the singing is done by the males, females that are ready to mate may also sing in response. The females also use stridulation to produce their songs. The male normally sings only one calling song in one place before moving on to another spot to try calling again. However, occasionally they may call more than once in the same spot.
Ticking is another sound that is produced when the male flicks the hind part of its back leg against one of its fore wings (the process is called a tibial flick). In the courtship process, the frequency of these tibial flicks does not follow a regular pattern and is highly variable between 5 and 15 ticks repeated roughly every 1 to 2 seconds. Geographical variation is also present in the mating song of this species. In Spain, where this grasshopper exists as the subspecies O. viridulus kaesteneri, the song tends to be shorter than in other regions. When singing to a female, one of the hind legs is moved at a much wider angle than the other and this generates most of the sound.
The songs are characterised by crescendos that make up a significant part of the song. The songs start quietly and increase until it reaches the greatest intensity, and then dies out. The males usually follow up their calling songs with a succession of loud syllables and then try to mate with the female. [1] When the male is calling to a female, there is a greater amplitude of movement for the hind leg facing the female. Males call when a female is close by, and these songs last about 45–60 seconds each with breaks of 10–15 s in between. [7] Various studies have been performed on the songs of O. viridulus. Heinrich et al. demonstrated that singing in both males and females can be induced with the injection of acetylcholine. [8] A study by Eiríksson revealed that the males of this species can use their songs most efficiently based on how frequently they sing and how they time their songs, as it is important that the males minimize the overlap of their songs with the females' song so that they can find each other. If the female sings at the same time as the male, the male might not hear the female's song. The males try to minimize this overlap in songs because he must be able to hear the female’s song in order to locate her. [9]
Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, the Tettigoniidae are the only extant (living) family in the superfamily Tettigonioidea.
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mechanism is typically that of one structure with a well-defined lip, ridge, or nodules being moved across a finely-ridged surface or vice versa, and vibrating as it does so, like the dragging of a phonograph needle across a vinyl record. Sometimes it is the structure bearing the file which resonates to produce the sound, but in other cases it is the structure bearing the scraper, with both variants possible in related groups. Common onomatopoeic words for the sounds produced by stridulation include chirp and chirrup.
Mole crickets are members of the insect family Gryllotalpidae, in the order Orthoptera. Mole crickets are cylindrical-bodied, fossorial insects about 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) long as adults, with small eyes and shovel-like fore limbs highly developed for burrowing. They are present in many parts of the world and where they have arrived in new regions, may become agricultural pests.
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Roesel's bush-cricket, Roeseliana roeselii is a European bush-cricket, named after August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, a German entomologist.
Teleogryllus oceanicus, commonly known as the Australian, Pacific or oceanic field cricket, is a cricket found across Oceania and in coastal Australia from Carnarvon in Western Australia and Rockhampton in north-east Queensland
Chorthippus brunneus, also known as the common field grasshopper, is a species of grasshopper of the subfamily Gomphocerinae. The species is common and widespread in the Western Palearctic, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
Deinacrida fallai or the Poor Knights giant wētā is a species of insect in the family Anostostomatidae. It is endemic to the Poor Knights Islands off northern New Zealand. D. fallai are commonly called giant wētā due to their large size. They are one of the largest insects in the world, with a body length measuring up to 73 mm. Their size is an example of island gigantism. They are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN due to their restricted distribution.
Gryllotalpa major,also known as the Prairie Mole Cricket, is endemic to the United States and is the largest cricket in North America. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland and it belongs to the family Gryllotalpidae. It is threatened by habitat loss, and is currently only found in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas. Males of this species produce sounds by rubbing their fore wings together. They sing from special burrows they construct in the prairie soil to attract females for mating, and they can be heard at distances up to 400 m from the burrow. Males aggregate their acoustic burrows in a lek arena and are very sensitive to vibrations carried through the ground. Males communicate with neighboring males through vibrational signals, and the songs they project to flying females are harmonic chirps, rather than the trills produced by most mole crickets.
Tettigonia viridissima, the great green bush-cricket, is a large species of bush-cricket belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae.
Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms, "crickets" were placed at the family level, but contemporary authorities including Otte now place them in the superfamily Grylloidea. The word has been used in combination to describe more distantly related taxa in the suborder Ensifera, such as king crickets and mole crickets.
The Senegalese grasshopper is a medium-sized grasshopper species found in the Sahel region of Africa, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, and West Asia. Although not called a locust in English, this species shows gregarious behaviour and some morphological change on crowding. In many parts of the Sahel, this species may cause greater year-on-year crop damage than better-known locusts, attacking crops such as the pearl millet.
Spharagemon collare, the mottled sand grasshopper, is found in sandy-soiled, grassy areas of northern United States and southern Canada. They are known to be a minor pest of wheat crops; however, populations are rarely large enough to cause appreciable damage.
Tettigonia cantans is a species of bush crickets belonging to the family Tettigoniidae subfamily Tettigoniinae.
Tetrix ceperoi, Cepero's groundhopper, is a member of the family Tetrigidae and is very similar to common grasshoppers. Grasshopper is defined as a "plant eating insect with long hind legs that are used for jumping and for producing a chirping sound". However, unlike the common grasshopper, the wings of T. ceperoi extend beyond its pronotum. The front wings have evolved throughout history to be stumps, and the back wings are very well developed. Thanks to the front wings only, T. ceperoi is capable of flying. Furthermore, T. ceperoi sports wide shoulders while covering its narrow abdomen beneath the pronotum. T. ceperoi are classified as Orthoptera, which describes crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts. Furthermore, these Orthoptera have incomplete metamorphosis, which also affects sexual dimorphism later. T. ceperoi reach an average length of about 10 millimetres (0.39 in). T. ceperoi is a multi-coloured ground dweller with the ability to blend into its surroundings. The ability of T. ceperoi to be different colours makes it able to evolve colour schemes better adapted to specific habitats. This cryptic nature of their outer layer provides protection from predators as it is able to blend into its surroundings. T. ceperoi is diurnal, which means it is solely active in the daytime. However, although it is diurnal, it continues to hibernate during a late nymphal instar or later on in life as adults.
The rufous grasshopper is a species of grasshopper. It is a medium-sized, broad, brown, short-horned grasshopper with clubbed antennae that are tipped with a conspicuous white or pale colour. It is fairly large, averaging 14 to 22 mm in length. It is of the subfamily Gomphocerinae in the family Acrididae, the predominant family of grasshoppers. This species is present in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, and in the Near East. It can be encountered from late July through mid-December, usually in dry or slightly moist habitats. The environments in which it typically resides include dry grassland on calcareous soils, sheltered valleys with scrub, and the open borders of forests. It feeds on grasses and various herbaceous plants. It is known for its distinctive courtship song and accompanying display.
Conocephalus fuscus, the long-winged conehead, is a member of the family Tettigoniidae, the bush-crickets and is distributed through much of Europe and temperate Asia. This bush-cricket is native to the British Isles where it may confused with the short-winged conehead. These two species are phenotypically similar; however, the distinguishing factor between the two is the fully developed set of wings the long-winged conehead possesses that allows for flight. In the short-winged coneheads the hind wings are shorter than the abdomen, causing the wings to be vestigial and the species is incapable of flight. For this reason it is hard to discriminate between the two species during the early stages of their life cycle before the wings have fully developed. The colouration of the conehead is typically a grass green with a distinctive brown stripe down its back, though there are some brown phenotypes.
Dissosteira carolina, the Carolina grasshopper, Carolina locust, black-winged grasshopper, road-duster or quaker, is a band-winged species of grasshopper which ranges widely in North America inhabiting weedy grasslands.
Cyphoderris strepitans, the sagebrush cricket or sagebrush grig, is a one of only a few surviving species in the family Prophalangopsidae. Three of these species are in the genus Cyphoderris and all three are endemic to North America. C. strepitans name is from the Latin word 'strepitans' which means 'making a great noise', refers to their calling song during the mating season.
Cyphoderris monstrosa, also known as the great grig, is a species of hump-winged grig in the family Prophalangopsidae. Though the fossil record shows at least 90 extinct species from this family, C. monstrosa is one of only 7 known species alive today.
