Blue-Winged Grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens) lives in dry grasslands across Southern Europe, Western Asia.
Fascinating facts about the Blue-Winged Grasshopper
- Males barely reach the length of a paperclip, while females grow as long as a small matchstick. Oedipoda caerulescens is a medium-sized grasshopper, between 15 and 21 mm for males and between 22 and 28 mm for females. The forewings are crossed most often by two or three pale bands, but the most striking characteristic, very visible when the insect flies away, is the bright coloration of the hind wings, a beautiful turquoise highlighted with a black marginal stripe.
- When startled, the blue-winged grasshopper flashes a turquoise surprise. The sudden disappearance of the blue hind wings of the adult makes it difficult for predators to shift quickly enough to a different kind of search to relocate the prey. a crucial edge in open, sun-baked dunes where cover is scarce.
- A remarkable behavior is the "hook" landing which serves to confuse potential attackers. Thus, the grasshopper lands and swings round to face the direction it has come from. By landing facing its origin, the insect tricks predators into thinking it vanished, buying time to escape.
- It makes its home on the planet's sun-baked leftovers, from sand dunes to old railway ballast. Oedipoda caerulescens frequents dry areas with low and open vegetation: dunes, heathlands, grasslands on sand and sunlit limestone rocks. Many stations correspond to land recently used for human activities, such as coal spoil heaps, quarries and pits, the ballast of railway tracks, etc. Living on these barren spots lets the grasshopper blend in, using its cryptic coloration to become almost invisible until it jumps.
- From the Mediterranean cliffs to the steppes of Asia, this insect spans three continents and even re-appeared where it was thought lost. This species occurs in Europe, North Africa and Asia. It was recently rediscovered in the Maltese islands.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeSouthern Europe, Western Asia
HabitatDry grasslands
DietGrass and leaves
About the Blue-Winged Grasshopper
As the warm sunlight casts its golden glow upon the rolling hills, the Blue-Winged Grasshopper springs to life, its iridescent wings beating at a hypnotic pace as it launches into a series of effortless leaps, traversing the lush vegetation with an air of weightless abandon. With each bound, the grasshopper's azure-hued wings flicker like a whispered secret, a fleeting glimpse of beauty that belies the insect's remarkable adaptability and resilience. As it dances across the landscape, the Blue-Winged Grasshopper embodies the very essence of wild, unbridled freedom, its every movement a testament to the unfettered joy of existence.
Hear the Blue-Winged Grasshopper, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
More insects and spiders to discover
