[078] Chorthippus brunneus, Common Field Grasshopper and others
Introduction
Chorthippus brunneus, the Common Field Grasshopper is a widespread grasshopper found in Britain. There are several other grasshoppers found in Britain and distinguishing between species is difficult.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Animals
Phylum – Arthropods
Class – Insects
Order – Orthoptera (Grasshoppers and Crickets)
Suborder – Caelifera (Grasshoppers and others)
Infraorder – Acrididea (Grasshoppers and Ground-hoppers)
Superfamily – Acridoidea
Family – Acrididae
Subfamily – Gomphocerinae (Slant-faced Grasshoppers)
Tribe – Gomphocerini
Genus – Chorthippus
Scientific Name – Chorthippus brunneus and others
Names
See below
Description
In scientific terms the order Orthoptera is divided into two suborders – Caelifera, Grasshoppers and Ensifera, Bush-crickets. (The main obvious difference is in the length of the antennae. They used to be called Short-horned Grasshoppers and Long-horned Grasshoppers. What we call Bush-crickets are called Katydids in America)
There are about 10 000 species of Grasshopper, most of which are in the family Acrididae. Of these about 200 are in the genus Chorthippus.
They have powerful hind legs which enable them to jump great distances and many are no longer able to fly. They are ground dwellers and do often live in grassy areas. All Grasshoppers are hemimetabolous. They grow through five moults and become more and more like the adult stage.
I will not attempt to explain the characteristic features that distinguish various species. They depend on close examination of the exact shape of body segments. I let Internet sources identify my pictures and I may be wrong. Often, I just get a tentative possible answer. Colour is not a useful distinguishing feature.
Field Grasshopper
Chorthippus brunneus, the Field Grasshopper or Common Field Grasshopper, is found all over the UK, and also in Europe and parts of Africa and Asia. It is usually brown but can be green, grey, reddish, purple or white. They feed mainly on grass and have one generation per year.
I can’t identify the word Chorthippus. Brunneus is Latin for brown.
Meadow Grasshopper
Chorthippus parallelus, the Meadow Grasshopper, is found over all of the UK and most of Europe. This flightless grasshopper is normally green with vestigial brown wings, but can be all green or all brown.
The Meadow Grasshopper is sometimes considered a separate genus as Pseudochorthippus parallelus.
Lesser Marsh Grasshopper
Chorthippus albomarginatus, the Lesser Marsh Grasshopper is found over South-East England and much of Europe but is not limited to marshy conditions. It is expanding its range northwards in Britain. They can fly. The female usually has a white stripe on her wings but the male does not. (Albomarginatus means white-stripe.)
(There is a Large Marsh Grasshopper, much less common.)
Common Green Grasshopper
Omocestus viridulus, the Common Green Grasshopper is found all over Britain and most of Europe. The female is always green on top but otherwise all forms of green, brown and grey are possible. They feed on grass and have one generation each year.
I have no ideas about ‘omocestus’ but viridulus, of course, means green.
Habitat and use
They all like grassy areas and it is quite common to see two or three species at the same location, together with bush-crickets.
Other Notes
You have to get down to grass level sometimes to spot these insects. If they see you, they will jump and you have to be careful to find where they land. If you get in close, they won’t always jump but they can crawl down the grass or round behind it. You need to be very careful with auto-focus cameras, which may focus on a blade of grass in between.
See also
Look out for Bush-crickets.
The Species of Britain 