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Picture someone – or something – jumping the length of a basketball court. Having five eyes. Bleeding yellow or green blood from a cut. Having ears on their belly or legs. Who or what are you picturing? Is it a grasshopper?
Grasshoppers can jump 20 times the length of their body. That’s the same as the length of a basketball court for us. They have five eyes and yellow or green blood. Most have a body part on their abdomen or legs that senses sound. The more than 10,000 kinds of grasshoppers live almost everywhere in the world. That is, except in cold places like the Arctic and Antarctic.
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▲ Grasshoppers have strong muscles in their legs. Plus, a part in their knee acts like a spring to fling them forward. No wonder they can jump so far! They can also fly. Some kinds of grasshoppers can fly 30 miles in a day! The color of a grasshopper’s blood? It comes from pigments in their food.
Grasshoppers use their eyes and their antennae to sense their surroundings. Two big eyes on the sides of their head let them see in all directions. Three small eyes at the top of their head sense light. Their antennae sense touch and smell. For some kinds of grasshoppers, the antennae also sense sound. ▶
▲ Grasshoppers can’t hear the highs and lows of sound. But they create and hear rhythms. In fact, each kind of grasshopper creates its own rhythm. They all have a row of sharp bumps on their hind legs. The bumps produce a chirping sound when they’re rubbed against the grasshopper’s wings. The sound is used to communicate with other grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers go through three stages as they grow. In summer, the female lays eggs and covers them with a sticky material that hardens into pods. The next spring, nymphs hatch from the eggs. Nymphs molt, or shed their skin, about five times as they grow. In less than two months wings form. The nymphs are now adults. ▶
Grasshoppers Galore!
The horsehead grasshopper is named for the shape of its face. It lives mainly in the South American rainforest where it dines on leaves.
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How can you tell the difference between grasshoppers and crickets?
Grasshoppers are mostly bright green or brown. Crickets are usually black or gray. Grasshoppers have short antennae. Crickets’ are long. Grasshoppers like sunny, dry places. Crickets like dark, cool places. Grasshoppers are active during the day while crickets are active at night. Crickets make sounds by rubbing their wings together. Their legs are not involved.
