This is probably the cutest thing I have ever seen, a baby grasshopper! This nymph was spotted jumping up and down in our garden from mulch to dry grass to pavement. It has the perfect camouflage and jumps away even before you can get a look, let alone click a picture.
I am pretty chuffed I got this shot! Look closely and I'll tell you why it is a grasshopper and not a cricket.
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| Grasshopper Nymph |
The antennae are short, shorter than the cephalus, the head, which distinguishes it from a cricket. Crickets have antennae longer than their heads. Grasshopper nymphs do not have wings. The nymphs have remnants of semi rigid wings which fully form when they grow up to be adults.
The most interesting fact is that Grasshoppers have 'ears' (Tympanum, auditory sensory organ) on their first abdominal segment, behind the third pair of legs. You can actually see the ear like structure in the picture below! Look behind the behind the feather like corrugated hind limb.
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| Macro image of Grasshopper Nymph |
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| Macro Image of Grasshopper nymph with it's tympanum marked out. |
While the Grasshoppers have their ears on their abdomen, crickets have it on their fore legs!
I have concluded that it is a nymph of the common field grasshopper of genus Chorthippus.
Location: Western Australia, South West
Season: Summer, December
Spotted in daytime.
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Caelifera
Family: Acrididae
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