Grasshoppers

There are around 20 species of grasshoppers in Switzerland, and the most common is also the most common in my meadow - the aptly named Meadow Grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus. It is flightless, but the male still has long wings...

...whilst the larger female's wings are shortened.

The only other grasshopper I've identifed to date is Mecostethus parapleurus or, as it's called in German, Grune Lauchshreke. It is more at home in lowland areas than alpine meadows.



This is not a grasshopper, it is a bush-cricket - the Grest Green Bush-Cricket, Tettigonia viridissima.

Of course, the joy of grasshoppers and crickets is their song - especially accompanying a glass of wine on a summer evening- and the song is the best way to identify them. Another project for next year.