Oedaleus Manjius

Oedaleus manjius (红胫小车蝗).

Spotted by the forest in Shibadong: the first time and only time I have encountered this bandwing grasshopper.

Chinese Rice Grasshopper

Chinese Rice Grasshopper (Oxya chinensis, 中华稻蝗).

It is difficult to resist a short-horned grasshopper, unless they are gathered in one's crops or gardens. This one was perched on a rock as the mists began to rapidly envelop Hengshan.

Yellow-spined Bamboo Locust

Yellow-spined Bamboo Locust (Ceracris kiangsu, 黄脊竹蝗).

Autumn is the great season for grasshoppers and many are out from the river to the forests. As its name suggests: this species can be quickly identified its top yellow strip, which extends from vertex to protergum. I see them often in the Hunan forest, usually from about July to October. They are great devourers of bamboo leaves.

Oriental Longheaded Locust

Oriental Longheaded Locust (Acrida cinerea, 中华剑角蝗).

A pair of large locusts in the Yanghu wetland: there were well disguised in the reeds.

Pink-winged Grasshopper

Pink-winged Grasshopper (Atractomorpha sinensis, 短额负蝗).

The most common local atractomorpha, in the summer and autumn they are vivacious during the day. They are dimorphic: most commonly bright green, but on Yuelu Mountain and other hills I sometimes find grey-brown ones, though these are far less common.

Slender Green-winged Grasshopper

Slender Green-winged Grasshopper (Aiolopus thalassinus, 绿纹蝗).

This grasshopper can be found in wetlands and near rivers across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and some of the Pacific islands too. From mid-June until around October, these adult grasshoppers can be easily spotted along the Xiang river.

Xenocatantops brachycerus

Xenocatantops brachycerus (短角外斑腿蝗).

In the summer, there are hordes of these short-spurred grasshoppers on Yuelu Mountain. In winter, they are uncommon but still easy to find provided the temperature is above freezing and the sun is shining.

Plain Prinia with an Irritating Grasshopper

By the Xiang river, a plain prinia (prinia inornata, 纯色山鹪莺) caught irritating grasshopper (euconocephalus nasutus, 鼻优草螽). Not a paltry meal: the prinia exerting itself for some time tossing the grasshopper and pecking at it in order to reduce it to edible portions.

Large Green Grasshopper

Large Green Grasshopper (Chondracris rosea, 棉蝗).

The largest and most formidable local grasshopper. In flight, their pink rose-coloured wings are instantly recognizable. When perched on vegetation, they are often sedate and approachable, even sometimes tolerate of human contact. They are especially common along the Xiang river. Like many insects this late in the year, this one was looking a little tattered: insect bodies are prone to wear and tear, and a short lifespan.

Tagasta tonkinensis

Tagasta tonkinensis (越北橄蝗).

There are many species of grasshoppers in Hunan but I have hitherto afforded them little attention: next year I hope to more carefully note and identify the various orthopteras I see by the river, on Yuelu Mountain, and further afield. This one I observed last September 7th: from July until mid-October they were often in the wilds by the Xiang river but they are gone now.

One wonders if the name of the genus refers to Thagaste, the Numidian village and famed birthplace of St Augustine. The ancient town lay in a valley but the adjacent forested hilltops were long a natural fortification against foreign invaders. The genus falls under the family Pyrgomorphidae (a remarkably colourful grouping of grasshoppers), which derives from πύργος, a 'defensive tower', because their heads vaguely resemble towers. It would take some imagination to envision the towered forts of Thagaste in this little insect, but the image does the trick as a mnemonic.