| Actual Image
Egyptian Grasshopper (Nymph+Adult) (56)
boreocypriensis
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4110 W: 156 N: 5317]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (14174) | Anacridium aegyptium (Egyptian Grasshopper) [in Turk. Mısır Çekirgesi]
Dear friends, as you remembered approximately two weeks ago –while I was in Cyprus- I have uploaded a wingless beauty with unknown id, which some friends (Radek and Marie) proposed that it could be a stage of Egyptian Grasshopper. Yesterday one of my professional colleague, an orthopteran expert Dr. Önder DEVECİ from our University confirmed this id and I wished to share this info with my TN friends with additional shots of the species, both nymph (at 3rd instar/molting phase) and adult female (in WS-1 ). I hope you can like these shots (one additional nymphal stage also added in WS-2).
Have a nice day! Cheers all!
Bayram
PS. Thanks Dr. Önder DEVECİ for his helpings on id.
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The Egyptian Grasshopper is one of a dozen species that may be called a locust during its swarming (gregarious) phase. Indeed, locust is the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae (Order Orthoptera). These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory. They form bands as nymphs and swarms as adults — both of which can travel great distances, rapidly stripping fields and greatly damaging crops. Though the female and the male look alike, they can be distinguished by looking at the end of their abdomen. The male has a boat-shaped tip while the female has two serrated valves that can be either apart or kept together. These valves aid in the digging of the hole in which an egg pod is deposited.
The Egyptian Grasshopper is common in the southern Europe and around Mediterranean, it may be found in trees and shrubs of warm, dry areas. Similar to the gregarious phase of the Desert locust (Locusta migratoria), it is clearly distinguished by the stripped eyes, indented prenatal keel and, unlike that species, causes little damage. Sometimes carried north in produce. Nymphs are often green or sometimes orange-brown.
Reference:
1. Chinery, M. (1986). Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe, Collins, Glasgow, 320 pp. |
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