Grasshoppers, crickets and bushcrickets of Andalusia

The great diversity of shapes, behaviors and sounds of photogenic and discreet insects.

Chorthippus apicalis, a spring species, is the first orthoptera to brighten up our outings with its powerful song.

Grasshoppers, crickets and bushcrickets of Andalusia: juvenile of Bradyporidae.

Some of the most attractive species of this group of insects:

Several representatives belong to insects among the largest in Europe, authentic “giants”: Truxalis nasuta, Acinipe hesperica, Acanthacris ruficornis citrina. The latter species is limited in Europe to the Strait of Gibraltar.

The curious Spade-cricket of the genus Sciobia, represented locally by three species.

The curious stone grasshoppers of the Pamphagidae family, whose adults are large, wingless and cryptic in color, with up to five local species.

With nine known species, the area is one of the richest in Europe for the family Bradyporidae (formerly Ephippigeridae).

Chorthippus apicalis, a spring species, is the first orthoptera to brighten up our outings with its powerful song.

Orthoptera is a group of insects that include crickets, bush crickets and grasshoppers (including large migratory locusts), all of them characterized by their long hind legs that allow to jump through the vegetation. Juvenile stages resemble miniature and wingless adults.

A group of terrestrial insects, very varied in their morphology, colors, diet and behaviour. Although they are generally large and photogenic, they often go unnoticed by their discrete behaviors: cryptic colors, nocturnal activities, arboricol species, elusive habits. Orthoptera, along with cicadas, are also characterized by acoustic communication, often audible to humans. 

107 species present in the area of Malaga and Cádiz have been counted: around 50 grasshoppers, 18 crickets and 35 bush-crickets, a quarter of which are endemic. 

Odontura glabricauda, a fragile grasshopper more discreet than rare.

Some of the most attractive species of this group of insects:

Several representatives belong to insects among the largest in Europe, authentic “giants”: Truxalis nasuta, Acinipe hesperica, Acanthacris ruficornis citrina. The latter species is limited in Europe to the Strait of Gibraltar.

Spectacular Euryparyphes terrulentus, a large pamphagidae.

The curious Spade-cricket of the genus Sciobia, represented locally by three species.

The curious stone grasshoppers of the Pamphagidae family, whose adults are large, wingless and cryptic in color, with up to five local species.

Grasshoppers, crickets and bushcrickets of Andalusia: juvenile of Bradyporidae.

With nine known species, the area is one of the richest in Europe for the family Bradyporidae (formerly Ephippigeridae).

Grasshoppers, crickets and bushcrickets: list of species present in Andalusia

(preliminary draft)

Notas