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| Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Orthoptera |
Stenobothrus p.p., Stauroderus
Adults diurnal; (10–)12–22(–25) mm long; brownish, greyish brown, green, sometimes pinkish or purplish in various combinations, the abdomen and/or the hind legs sometimes partly orange or red.
The antennae relatively short, with fewer than 30 segments; not thickened towards the tip. The pronotum not extended backwards over the abdomen. Forewings well developed, or much reduced in size; greatly exceeding the abdomen when folded (excluding terminal abdominal appendages) to much shorter than the abdomen (very short only in female C. parallelus, and extending beyond the hind knees in both male and female C. brunneus). The costal margin of the forewing dilated near the base, the wing abruptly narrowing beyond it (usually), or straight, the wing narrowing gradually with no basal dilation (in male C. albomarginatus only). Hindwings fully developed and functional for flight, or reduced or vestigial (in both sexes of C. parallelus); not pale blue. Foreleg tarsi 3 segmented; mid-leg tarsi 3 segmented; hindleg tarsi 3 segmented. The hind femora keeled. Hind tibiae not banded black and yellow. The ovipositor relatively short, and consisting of separate, prong-like valves articulated at the base; valves not toothed. The males stridulous. The sound production of the males femoro-alary, involving rubbing the rough insides of the hind femora against prominent veins in the forewings. Auditory organs located in the first abdominal segment (sometimes concealed by the folded wings or the hind-legs, and the tympanal cavity sometimes partially covered by a flap).
British representation. 4 species. Chorthippus albomarginatus (Lesser Marsh Grasshopper), C. brunneus (Field Grasshopper), C. parallelus (Meadow Grasshopper), C. vagans (Heath Grasshopper). Native. Northern Scotland, southern Scotland, northern England, English Midlands, East Anglia, Wales, southeast England, central southern England, southwest England, Isle of Wight, Ireland, and Channel Islands (C. brunneus and C. parallelus being very widely distributed, with C. vagans only in extreme southern England and Channel Islands, and C. albomarginatus in England mainly southern and eastern).
Vegetarian (feeding mainly on gasses); found outdoors in natural habitats (in various, mainly open grassland habitats).
Classification. Suborder Caelifera; Superfamily Acridoidea; Acrididae.
Comments. The lateral keels of the pronotum sharply angled (resulting in the pronotum being conspicuously flared at the back) in C. brunneus and C. vagans, but more or less parallel or only gently incurved in C. parallelus and C. albomarginatus.
Illustrations. • Chorthippus and Stenobothrus (Lucas). 7, Chorthippus parallelus (Meadow Grasshopper, male); 8, Stenobothrus lineatus (Stripe-winged Grasshopper, male); 9, Chorthippus albomarginatus (Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, male). From Lucas (1920), with approximate insect lengths. • Chorthippus brunneus (Common Field Grasshopper: Lucas). Chorthippus brunneus (Common Field Grasshopper). Female with spread wings, and speckled form of male with wings closed. From Lucas (1920), the indicated insect length approximate. • Acrididae and Tetrigidae: Burr. 1, Stethophyma grossum; 2a-2d, dissections of Stenobothrus lineatus; 3, Omocestus viridulus, details of elytron (3a), ovipositor (3b), and pronorum (3c); 4, Omocestus rufipes, details of elytron (4a) and pronotum (4b); 5, Chorthippus brunneus, details of female elytron (5a) and pronorum (5b); 6, Chorthippus albomarginatus, detail of pronotum; 7a and 7b, Chorthippus parallelus male and female, with detail of pronotum (7c); 8, inflated fore tibia of "Gomphocerus sibiricus" (a mainland-European montane species); 9 and 9a, female elytron and antenna of Gomphocerippus rufus; 10, elytron of Myrmeleotettix maculatus; 11, Tetrix undulata; 12, Tetrix subulata. Illustrations by S.L. Mosley, from Burr (1897). • Chorthippus, Myrmeleottix, Tetrix: Burr. 1, Myrmeleotettix maculatus (male); 2, Chorthippus parallelus (female); 3, Chorthippus brunneus (female); 4, Tetrix undulata (female). From Burr (1936; dead specimens).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Orthoptera. Version: 14th April 2022. delta-intkey.com’.
