Common Adreppus - Adreppus fallax
Family Acrididae
This page contains pictures and information about the Common Adreppus Grasshoppers that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 40mm
- Common Adreppus is also known as Stem Grasshoppers. They are common in Brisbane bushland. However, they are hard to be seen when they rest on the tree trunk. They do not move until we come very close, then they hide at the other side of the tree trunk. The grasshoppers have relatively long antennae, about half of their body length. Their large compound eyes suggested they are active at night.
- Adult body length 40mm-50mm
- During the day time, they rest on tree trunk with rough bark surface. They usually sit in line with the bark texture and hardly be seen. They will not move a bit even we came to very close. They depend on their camouflaged pattern to hide away from their predators.
- Their body and colour pattern resemble twigs or stems. Both female and male are fully winged.
- Above pictures were taken in a early mid-summer morning, a Stem Grasshopper was found sun-bathing on a Acacia leaf in Karawatha Forest.
- Nymph, 2nd instars, body length 12mm
- Reference:
- 1. Grasshopper Country - the Abundant Orthopteroid Insects of Australia, D Rentz, UNSW Press, 1996, p189.
- 2. A Guide to Australian Grasshoppers and Locusts - DCF Rentz, RC Lewis, YN Su and MS Upton, 2003, p261.
