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Sticker of Common mountain grasshopper
Bug card No. 1103 of 4,939

Common mountain grasshopper

Podisma pedestris
Eats: PlantsGrasshoppers and cricketsGardens and meadows6 legs

The common mountain grasshopper is a grasshopper that usually cannot fly. Its wings are tiny, so it gets around by walking and jumping. Its back legs are pretty: reddish thighs and blue shins with white spines.

Lives in
Most of Europe and across Asia, in dry meadows, mountain pastures and forest clearings
Length
1.7 to 3 cm (0.67 to 1.2 in)
Top speed
about 9.3 km/h (5.8 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
It eats grasses and other soft plants.
For real!Photo of Common mountain grasshopper
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Common mountain grasshopper about 3 cm long (1.2 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 0.4 secondsmoves 86 times its own body length every second

How big is Common mountain grasshopper compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The females are bigger than the males. Females grow up to 3 centimetres long.

2

The males have brighter colours and more black markings than the females.

3

Once in a while, one grows full-size wings and can fly.

4

The females lay their eggs on the ground.

5

You can see it from the middle of June until October.

you asked

Most asked questions about Common mountain grasshopper

?Can the common mountain grasshopper fly?

Usually not. Its wings are too small, but now and then one has full wings and can fly.

?How big is the common mountain grasshopper?

Males are 17 to 25 mm long and females 24 to 30 mm.

?What does the common mountain grasshopper eat?

Grasses and other soft plants.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Podisma pedestris
Named by
Linnaeus, 1758
Group
Grasshoppers and crickets
Family
Acrididae
Classification
Insecta > Orthoptera > Acrididae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Podisma pedestris (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 Hectonichus. 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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