Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) lives in temperate grasslands across Europe and Asia. It feeds on grass and leaves. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Common Field Grasshopper
- Grasshoppers that love dry, tall grass thrive where the sward reaches 100-200 mm, exactly the height C. brunneus prefers. The species is most abundant in heathlands, where fine-leaved grasses like Agrostis and Festuca dominate, and sward height is higher than in nearby farms. Because grazing shortens the grass, ungrazed patches host more individuals, and those areas also boost adult weight, development speed and egg production. This shows how a simple change in plant height can ripple through an entire insect population.
- When females lay eggs over a ten-week period, the size of each egg changes with the mother's age and the season. Early-season eggs are smaller, while those laid in late August to early September are the heaviest, hatch later, and produce the biggest hatchlings. Larger eggs also give rise to larger adults, but later hatchlings in warm, food-scarce conditions, ending up smaller than early hatchlings.
- Male C. brunneus sing in three distinct ways, and the speed of each song tells a story. Their normal call has 5-12 notes, each 0.25-0.50 s long, spaced 1.5-2 s apart. When a rival appears, the rival song's notes fire three to four times faster, every 0.35-0.57 s. If a male can't mate after a normal song, he switches to a softer, higher-frequency courtship song, and a receptive female answers with an attraction song that reshapes the duet.
- In polluted soils, C. brunneus become living metal detectors. At sites in Poland, soil heavy-metal levels can reach 124.3 ± 15.9 mg kg⁻¹, and individual grasshoppers accumulate up to 21.25 mg kg⁻¹. These insects show higher glutathione but lower glutathione-S-transferase activity, and when heavy metal exposure meets the pesticide dimethoate, glutathione drops and acetylcholinesterase activity falls by almost 50 %. Their stressed enzymes reveal how contamination forces them to divert energy from growth to detoxification.
- A hidden extra molt lets some female C. brunneus grow three to four times larger than males. In East Anglia, females insert an additional instar (IIa) between instars II and III, producing wing buds that look like instar II but with more veins, and genitalia that resemble instar III. The longer summer there likely speeds hatching and growth, allowing this extra stage, while food scarcity can also trigger it. This extra molt explains the striking size gap between the sexes.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeEurope and Asia
HabitatTemperate grasslands
DietGrass and leaves
About the Common Field Grasshopper
As the sun warms the lush meadows, the Common Field Grasshopper stirs to life, its delicate wings fluttering rapidly as it takes to the air with an effortless ease, its slender body glinting like polished bronze in the bright light. With each leap, it propels itself through the dense undergrowth, its powerful hind legs coiled springs that unleash a burst of speed and agility, allowing it to dodge and weave through the intricate network of grasses and wildflowers with remarkable precision. In this vibrant, thriving world, the Common Field Grasshopper is a master of movement, its very existence a testament to the enduring beauty and resilience of the natural world.
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