Sigaus collinus

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Sigaus collinus
Brachaspis collinus 60694510.jpg
Sigaus collinus, New Zealand
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Caelifera
Family: Acrididae
Tribe: Catantopini
Genus: Sigaus
Species:
S. collinus
Binomial name
Sigaus collinus
(Hutton, 1898)

The Green Rock-hopper grasshopper, Sigaus collinus is an alpine species of short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. [1] It is found in New Zealand in the mountains of northern South Island, above the tree line and as high as 2000 m asl. [2] [3] [4] [5] In New Zealand alpine grasshoppers can freeze solid at any time of the year and are alive when they thaw out when temperatures rise. [6]

Sigaus collinus is flightless and adults are relative large (females 32 mm), [2] and common amongst scree and tussock. [7] Although widespread in 2020, about 97% of the habitat of the green rock-hopper grasshopper will be lost due to global warming by 2070. [8] The species is variable in colour; most individuals are green with yellow markings, but some are olive-grey. In the Kaikōura Ranges (Mt Luxford) S. collinus hybridises with S. nivalis, [9] but elsewhere the two species are well differentiated. [5]

An endemic species of mite (Erythrites jacksoni) is an ectoparasite of this grasshopper. [10]

The New Zealand alpine green rock-hopper grasshopper, Brachaspis collinus, at Rainbow Ski Field, Nelson Lakes National Park (adult female) B collinus male Rainbow.jpg
The New Zealand alpine green rock-hopper grasshopper, Brachaspis collinus, at Rainbow Ski Field, Nelson Lakes National Park (adult female)




References

  1. Trewick, Steven A.; Koot, Emily M.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2023). "Māwhitiwhiti Aotearoa: Phylogeny and synonymy of the silent alpine grasshopper radiation of New Zealand (Orthoptera: Acrididae)". Zootaxa. 5383 (2): 225–241. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5383.2.7. ISSN   1175-5334. PMID   38221250.
  2. 1 2 Bigelow, R. S. (1967). The Grasshoppers of New Zealand: Their taxonomy and distribution. Christchurch NZ: Pegasus Press.
  3. "Brachaspis collinus". GBIF. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  4. Otte, Daniel; Cigliano, Maria Marta; Braun, Holger; Eades, David C. (2020). "species Brachaspis collinus (Hutton, 1898)". Orthoptera species file online, Version 5.0. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  5. 1 2 Koot, Emily M.; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steven A. (2020). "An alpine grasshopper radiation older than the mountains, on Kā Tiritiri o te Moana (Southern Alps) of Aotearoa (New Zealand)" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 147: 106783. Bibcode:2020MolPE.14706783K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106783. ISSN   1055-7903. PMID   32135305. S2CID   212567788.
  6. Hawes, Timothy C. (2015). "Canalization of freeze tolerance in an alpine grasshopper" . Cryobiology. 71 (2): 356–359. doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2015.07.008. ISSN   0011-2240. PMID   26210007.
  7. Batcheler, C.L. (1967). "Preliminary observations of alpine grasshoppers in a habitat modified by deer and chamois" (PDF). Proceedings of the New Zealand Ecological Society.
  8. Koot, Emily M.; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steven A. (2022). "Climate change and alpine-adapted insects: modelling environmental envelopes of a grasshopper radiation". Royal Society Open Science. 9 (3): 211596. Bibcode:2022RSOS....911596K. doi: 10.1098/rsos.211596 . PMC   8889178 . PMID   35316945.
  9. Trewick, Steven A. (2001-09-01). "Identity of an endangered grasshopper (Acrididae: Brachaspis): Taxonomy, molecules and conservation" . Conservation Genetics. 2 (3): 233–243. Bibcode:2001ConG....2..233T. doi:10.1023/A:1012263717279. ISSN   1572-9737. S2CID   21828397.
  10. Southcott, Ronald V. (1988). "Two new larval Erythraeinae (Acarina: Erythraeidae) from New Zealand, and the larval Erythraeinae revised". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 15 (2): 223–233. doi: 10.1080/03014223.1988.10422617 . ISSN   0301-4223.