Saturday 7 April 2012

G for Grasshopper

Fun Facts:

1) Grasshoppers, along with crickets and Katydids belong to the order Orthoptera, meaning straight wings.

2) Grasshoppers produce sounds to attract mates or protect their territories. And just like fireflies use different flash codes to distinguish between species, different grasshopper species produce different sounds (songs).

3) Depending on the species, grasshoppers produce their sound by stridulation or by crepitation. Stridulation is the rubbing of one body part on another. Grasshoppers stridulate by rubbing a row of pegs located along the inside of the hind legs rubs against a thickened area of the forewing which produces an audible vibration. Other species use a different method of sound production called crepitation. These grasshoppers snap their hindwings during flight to create a distinct buzzing sound like plucking a taut rubberband.

4) The females of few Orthoptera may make a few soft sounds, but most of the singing is done by the males.


5) Grasshoppers hear sounds with an organ called the tympanum. The tympanum is a thin membrane in the form of a disk, located on the side of the abdomen. It monitors the air for sound waves.

6) Locusts are grasshoppers in the family Acrididae. The term locust is used for grasshoppers that change morphologically and behaviorally in response to overcrowding. This change also triggers swarming and migratory behaviors but there is no taxonomic difference between locust and grasshopper species.

7) Locust swarms can vary from less than one square kilometer to several hundred square kilometers with 40 to 80 million individuals per square kilometer. An adult locust can consume its own weight (about 2 grams) in fresh food per day. For every million locusts, one ton of food is eaten. Plagues of locusts appear in both the Bible and the Quran. Swarms can travel 5-130 km or more in a day (source: Wikipedia)

You can find some great examples of grasshopper stridulation on youtube

*****

I'm sorry if this post seems a bit rushed, I have a good excuse. My in-laws are coming over in a few hours to spend the weekend with us and my house is a Feng Shui nightmare. Toys carpet our living room, my kids art projects are still drying on the floor, I've got piles of books, papers and the most random items sprinkled everywhere. For example, on my desk in front of the computer I have paper, pens, a couple books, a Scooby-Doo dvd, 2 rolls of electrical tape, and Kermit the frog. Which reminds me of the game "What's your superhero name?" Basically it's the color of your shirt + the object to your right. So right now, I would be called The Black Frog. Well I hope Black Frog has some serious super cleaning powers, or a flamethrower.

17 comments:

  1. Another interesting post, Elise. Hope the in-laws' visit goes well and you don't get too stressed.

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    1. Eeek, they are almost here and I have yet to shower! But I'll steal a few more moments right now to check some blogs... I'm so bad! (:

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  2. Interesting grasshopper facts. Definitely a nightmare quality to those locust swarms!

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    1. Nightmare indeed. The economical loss caused by even a small swarm can be devistating. Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Hope you have a great get-together with your in-laws...
    This post made me think of a childhood poem Grasshopper Green is a comical chap... don't know why this came to mind... LOL! Must be all this blog-hopping... drives a person slightly nuts... *eyes rolling*

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    1. I am so loony right now LOL! I'll definitely have to see a shrink after A-Z! (;

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  4. ...I once watched a crazed grasshopper attack my wife while on an evening walk, many moons ago. She was a bit frantic at the time, but its now a memory best served over drinks with a side of giggles ;)

    El

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    1. The grasshopper may not have been attacking, I've heard they can really turn on the charm. I guess it didn't work on your wife. lol! Good to meet you and thanks for the follow. (:

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  5. Your blog post didn't seem rushed. At. All. As I read it, I thought, Man she spent some time reseaching all this. Good job. I rather enjoyed learning more about grasshoppers. Growing up, we had tons in our back yard. That was before my dad landscapped it. Before then it was a dense weeded mess of nothingness. They swarmed there and it creeped me out everytime I had to go back there. Ick! Grasshoppers would attack. haha

    Keep going strong with the A-Z Challenge!

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  6. I was really impressed with all your facts and how you presented them. It didn't seem rushed to me either. It seemed as if you put a lot of thought and preparation into it. A brilliant post in my way of thinking. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I am visiting back from the A-Z and a new follower. :D

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  7. Loved it, Elise :) Very fun. Hoping you're having a fab time with family :D

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  8. I'm not a fan of grasshoppers. Any insect little creature that has the ability to jump at me.. aaakc! LOL

    But I'm impressed with all the facts you share, nicely done. Thank you for stopping by my blog and I can't wait to read more from you :)

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  9. Julia: that dense weeded mess of nothingness you talked about would have been an entomologist paradise lol! Hope you had a great birthday (:

    Kathy: Thank you so much. I wasn't sure how folks would react to a "bug" theme so I'm glad you enjoy these little snippets! (:

    Morgan: So far all is good. The kids are spending time with their grand-parents which means I can get out for a little run (as soon as I step away from the computer ;))

    Cristina: LOL! Glad you liked the post and it looks like grasshoppers are a big fan of yours! (;

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  10. I normally don't like insects or other creatures, but grasshoppers are one of the few that don't bother or scare me. Have a happy Easter with the in-laws.

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    1. Thanks Melissa, and happy Easter to you too!

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  11. I'm not saying my superhero name ... the best variation right now would be something like Grey Spoon!
    Or can I choose something from the left and the colour of my jacket? Then I'd be the Green Tarot! Yeah!

    Green - reminds me of your critters of the day. Although they can come in brown, too, right?

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    1. Green Tarot, good name! :D Better than Black Frog. And grasshoppers come in all sorts of colors. If you want to see one that looks like Spiderman, google "Leichardt grasshopper" (:

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