Common digging grasshopper (Acrotylus insubricus)

Here’s a detailed profile of the Common Digging Grasshopper (Acrotylus insubricus), a ground-dwelling grasshopper known for its affinity for sandy habitats.

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🦗 Common Digging Grasshopper Overview

• Scientific name: Acrotylus insubricus
• Common name: Common Digging Grasshopper
• Family: Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers)
• Subfamily: Oedipodinae (band-winged grasshoppers)
• Body length:
  • Males: ~15–20 mm
  • Females: ~22–28 mm
• Wingspan: 30–45 mm

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🌍 Distribution and Habitat

• Range:
  • Widely distributed in southern and central Europe, North Africa, and parts of western and central Asia.
  • In Europe, most common in the Mediterranean region but extends north into central countries where suitable habitat exists.
• Preferred habitat:
  • Dry, sandy, and sparsely vegetated areas
  • Riverbanks, dunes, steppe, gravel pits, fallow land
  • Areas with loose soil for egg-laying

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🪵 Ecology and Behavior

• Activity:
  • Diurnal, active in warm sunny weather.
  • Often rests motionless, blending in with sandy or stony backgrounds.
  • Quick, low flights when disturbed, sometimes flashing hindwings with faint color.
• Diet:
  • Herbivorous — feeds on grasses and small herbaceous plants typical of dry habitats.
• Digging behavior:
  • Females excavate small holes in the ground with their ovipositors to deposit egg pods.

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🔍 Identification

• Coloration:
  • Highly cryptic: mottled gray-brown to sandy beige, matching the substrate.
  • Body and forewings patterned with irregular dark speckles.
  • Hindwings usually pale, sometimes with a light smoky band near the edge.
• Build:
  • Typical short-horned grasshopper shape with relatively short antennae.
  • Hind femora strong for jumping.

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🔄 Life Cycle

• Generations: Usually univoltine (one generation per year).
• Overwintering stage: Eggs buried in the soil.
• Adult season:
  • In Mediterranean climates: May–October
  • In temperate regions: mid-summer to early autumn

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⚠ Conservation Status

• IUCN status: Not globally threatened.
• Locally common in suitable habitats but can be absent from intensively farmed or heavily urbanized landscapes.
• Vulnerable to habitat loss from riverbank stabilization, dune destruction, and scrub encroachment.

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🔎 Interesting Facts

• Like many band-winged grasshoppers, it relies on camouflage rather than bright colors for defense.
• The genus Acrotylus includes several species adapted to arid and semi-arid environments, with excellent tolerance for heat and sun exposure.
• When startled, its short burst flights end quickly, and it blends seamlessly into the ground on landing.

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