Green Grasshopper

The common green grasshopper is a small, short-horned grasshopper widespread across much of Europe, ranging from lowland meadows to upland pastures. It is one of the earliest grasshopper species to mature each summer and is often among the first grasshopper songs heard in a season. Despite the common name "green grasshopper," individuals can show some variation in ground color, though bright green remains the most typical and recognizable form.

This species favors moister grassland than many of its relatives, often found in damp meadows, hay fields, and grassy verges where vegetation stays lush through the growing season. It is a familiar and ecologically important herbivore in these habitats, providing food for birds and other predators while grazing lightly on a variety of grasses.

Because it is common, widespread, and easy to hear, the green grasshopper is frequently used as an indicator species in grassland conservation surveys, with its presence or absence reflecting the condition of unimproved or lightly managed pasture.

• Bright grass-green body, sometimes with brownish or purplish tinges along the back.
• Long, straight-sided pronotum without strong keels.
• Forewings do not fully cover the abdomen in females; males have slightly longer wings.
• Hind legs are proportionally robust for jumping, often washed with yellow-green.
• Males produce a long, sustained, hissing or churring song by rubbing a hind leg against the forewing.
• Distinguished from similar green grasshoppers by song structure and the shape of the pronotum's side keels.

This species is found across most of Europe, from Britain and Scandinavia south into the Mediterranean fringe and east into parts of Asia, generally favoring damp, unimproved grassland, hay meadows, and grassy field margins. Adults are active from early to late summer, often appearing earlier in the season than many other grasshopper species.

Green grasshoppers are diurnal herbivores, feeding on a range of grasses and occasionally other low-growing plants. Males sing to attract females, producing a distinctive sustained buzzing or hissing call by stridulation. Both sexes bask in sunny patches to regulate body temperature and retreat into dense vegetation during cooler or wetter weather. As abundant grassland insects, they serve as an important food source for birds, spiders, and other predators.

Eggs are laid in soil or amongst grass tussocks in late summer and overwinter, hatching the following spring. Nymphs pass through several instars of incomplete metamorphosis, resembling smaller wingless versions of adults, before maturing by early to midsummer. There is typically a single generation per year across most of the species' range.