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Sticker of Desert sand grasshopper
Bug card No. 1341 of 4,939

Desert sand grasshopper

Sphingonotus rubescens
Eats: PlantsGrasshoppers and cricketsDeserts and dry places6 legs

The desert sand grasshopper is a band-winged grasshopper that lives in dry, sandy places. Like other grasshoppers, it has strong back legs for big jumps. It lives across a huge area of Europe, North Africa and Asia.

Lives in
Dry lands of Europe, North Africa and Asia
Top speed
about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
Like other grasshoppers, it munches on plants.
For real!Photo of Desert sand grasshopper
Picture by Donkey shot. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Scientists split it into six kinds, called subspecies.

2

One of its kinds is named after Afghanistan.

3

It was first described in 1870, more than 150 years ago.

you asked

Most asked questions about Desert sand grasshopper

?Is the desert sand grasshopper dangerous?

No. It is a grasshopper and harmless to people.

?Where does the desert sand grasshopper live?

In dry, sandy places across Europe, North Africa and Asia.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Sphingonotus rubescens
Named by
Walker, 1870
Group
Grasshoppers and crickets
Family
Acrididae
Classification
Insecta > Orthoptera > Acrididae
Lives on
Europe, Africa, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Sphingonotus rubescens (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Donkey shot. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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