The Grasshopper

Grasshoppers are a popular insect among kids. This flying creature belongs to the scientific suborder of Caelifera. Most grasshopper species are green in colour but there are also some species which come in red, yellow, brown or black colours. Having different colours helps them blend in with different backgrounds and evade predators. Green grasshoppers camouflage themselves among grass and sandy coloured ones camouflage themselves among sand and dirt.

Scientists have identified over

11,000 species of grasshoppers around the world. As their name suggests, they can be easily found in meadows and grasslands. A grasshopper has compound eyes, two antennae on top of the head, six legs and two pairs of wings. They have two pincers which they use to tear off food such as grass, cereal crops and leaves.

Unlike most of the other insects, the female grasshopper is large in size in comparison to her male partner. The mother grasshopper lays a batch of eggs in a hole dug in the ground. After several weeks, the eggs hatch and baby grasshoppers come out of them.

Grasshoppers are an infamous pest since large swarms of grasshoppers could destroy an entire field of crops. In some countries including Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand, grasshoppers are a popular meal, most of the time served fried!

Grasshoppers have widely been used in literature since the time of the Egyptian civilization. The ‘Grasshopper and the Ant’ is one of Aesop’s Fables. A number of movies and cartoons have been made using grasshoppers as characters. Spiders, small birds and mammals including some monkeys are predators of grasshoppers.