Grasshopper - Grasshopper

An insect belonging to the family Scutellaria in the order Orthoptera of the class Insecta. It is a small to medium-sized grasshopper with a cone-shaped head with the top of the head protruding forward. Its forewings are like bamboo leaves with pointed tips, and the whole body looks boat-shaped. The body length is about 20 mm for males and about 35 mm for females. The body color is green or brown, but there are also gray and other variations. The antennae are flat and dagger-shaped. Adults appear from June to November and can be seen on grass, but they are not very active and rarely fly. The Japanese name comes from the fact that the small male rides on top of the large female during mating, but this mating position is commonly seen in grasshoppers and is not unique to this species. It is distributed throughout Japan as well as China.

[Yamazaki Egane]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昆虫綱直翅(ちょくし)目オンブバッタ科に属する昆虫。頭頂が前方に突出して円錐(えんすい)形になった頭部をもつ小形ないし中形のバッタ。前ばねはササの葉状で先はとがり、体全体は舟形にみえる。体長は雄20ミリメートル内外、雌35ミリメートル内外。体色は緑色ないし褐色を帯びるが、灰色やそのほかの変異型がある。触角は平たく短剣状。成虫は6～11月に出現して草上にみられるが、行動はあまり活発でなく、飛ぶことも少ない。和名は交尾時に小さい雄が大きい雌の上にのることに由来するが、この交尾姿勢はバッタ類に普通にみられるもので、本種だけの特徴ではない。日本全土のほか中国にも分布する。

［山崎柄根］

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