Pygmy Grasshopper
Nymph: Face
Pygmy Grasshopper
Nymph: Pronotum
| Pygmy Grasshopper Nymph: Face | | Pygmy Grasshopper Nymph: Pronotum | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Crickets, Grasshoppers & Katydids (Orthoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Pygmy Grasshopper (Tetrigidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Pygmy Grasshopper (Tetrigidae sp) | ||||
| This Photo: | Nymph: Fastigium | ||||
Thank you Matthew Connors & Dr Josip Skejo for identifying and Aidan Beutel & Niko Kasalo for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere ~5mm long Nymph. ~7mm long Adult At first we didn't know what this was, contemplated a Hemipteran bug. After reviewing the photo's we realised it was a Orthopteran, grasshopper. Given it seemed to have a pronotum that covered the whole body we considered a wingless adult female Rockhopper (Buforniina sp). Thank fully there are experts out there willing to help with these unusual species. It turns out to be a Nymph Pygmy Grasshopper! Josip said "It could be either Tetrix irrupta, or maybe Cyphotettix sp. as Matthew suggested." We became convinced we have a flightless species, so couldn't differentiate Nymphs from Adults. Josip sent us a link to a research paper he's published showing that, with flightless species, the only way to differentiate them is by a groove, or notch, just before the knee on top of the back legs. The top of the back leg is straight on nymphs (as can be seen here). It's very difficult to see in photographs. Now we know we'll try and focus on it better with the next one we find. We've photographed 8 specimens (1 Adult) in Jan, Jun, July & Oct. | |||||
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