The Great green grasshopper: A well-known helper

Are you taking a walk through a meadow and see grasshoppers jumping all around you? This is certainly a comfortable and peaceful feeling when you are actively relaxing in the mountains. But these great green bush-crickets are often found in our in gardens and they certainly can do plenty of good there. You may remember Flip from Maya the Bee, who was smart and helpful in any situation. Great green bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima) is one of the largest representatives of this type of insects in Europe. In central Europe you will also find, Saga pedo know as the spiked magician. A magician because it waives its forelimbs in a funny way as it approaches its prey. So, where can you see these great grasshoppers and how they can help us?

Often we barely see them

Grasshoppers love sunny places. They live on tall grass in meadows, in bushes or near trees or branches. Body is over 4 cm long and it is coloured deep green to match the grass. It has long, thin antennae, which distinguish the green grasshopper from the Caelifera.

Photo: Pixabay 

Strong legs we all wish we had

The strength of the green grasshopper is, of course in its legs. It actually has a third pair of legs with strong thighs and a very specific shape. The first pair even includes the auditory system. Grasshopper uses its legs to hear. Amazing! The saying goes that grasshoppers hear with their knees, but the tympanic organs (a kind of a tympanic membrane) are actually located in the shin. And there is no doubt that grasshoppers hear very well. They communicate by chirping, which is produced by stridulation, and males use chirping to attract females to reproduce. Different types of grasshoppers have different sound and males mostly perform in the evening.

Grasshopper is a great helper

Yes, grasshopper can help you a lot. It is a predator but mainly an omnivore. It eats larvae of many insects. If various insects happily multiply in your garden, then a grasshopper is a big help. It can also catch a fly or a butterfly easily, and being an omnivore it also includes some juicy greens in its menu.

Photo: Pixabay