Tettigonia

Great Green Bush Cricket ( Tettigonia viridissima ), female

The Heupferde ( Tettigonia ) are a genus within the family of Sing terror and the superfamily of katydids dar.

Features

All species of the genus Heupferde are quite large, bulky locusts, which are about 28 to 42 millimeters long. Most species are grass green, but some are also brown colored, which also serves as camouflage in the grass, as well as the wings, which leaves represent. The wings can be of different lengths, they can, for example, as project beyond the ovipositor at the Green Grasshopper and the animals are capable of flight or, as in the Zwitscherschrecke, rich only body tip, and thus the animals can barely fly. Wingless or extremely brachypterous species do not occur in the genus.

The males of Tettigonia are distinguishable from similar species in the shape of the cerci, they are long and straight with a sharp tooth from the middle or in the basal section. The ovipositor ( ovipositor ) of the female is long and straight, it is at least two and a half times as long as the pronotum.

Occurrence

The Heupferde are spread over the entire Palearctic. They usually inhabit grasslands. Some species, such as the Green Grasshopper, are quite undemanding and inhabit virtually all environments.

Way of life

All kinds of Heupferde live mainly prey on small insects. Rarely, plants are eaten, primarily soft, herbaceous plants.

The loud singing of the males can be heard from noon to night from July. The males are very territorial and distribute males of the same species in their area. After mating, the female lays 200 to 600 eggs. The development can be 6, but also amount to 7 stages. The adult animals can be seen from July.

Naming

The name Tettigonia Linnaeus, 1758 ( a genus of locusts ) is homonymous with Tettigonia Fabricius, 1775 ( a genus of cicadas ). The name for the cicada genus is an invalid junior homonym, but is widely used to this day.

Species

European Species

• Great Green Bush Cricket ( Tettigonia viridissima ), Europe, North Africa, West and Central Asia, east to Tian Shan
• Zwitscherschrecke ( Tettigonia cantans ), Europe, Siberia, east to Kazakhstan.
• Eastern Grasshopper ( Tettigonia caudata ), Eastern Europe, West and Central Asia, east to Tian Shan
• Tettigonia hispanica, Spain ( endemic to the mountains of central Spain )
• Tettigonia longispina, Sardinia
• Tettigonia Silana, Italy

Non-European species

• Tettigonia acutipennis (Asia Minor)
• Tettigonia chinensis ( South China)
• Tettigonia dolichoptera ( Southeast Asia, Korea )
• Tettigonia ibuki (Japan)
• Tettigonia krugeri (Libya)
• Tettigonia longealata (Morocco )
• Tettigonia lozanoi (Algeria, Morocco)
• Tettigonia macrocephalus (Kyrgyzstan)
• Tettigonia macroxipha (Morocco )
• Tettigonia orientalis ( Japan) ( syn: Tettigonia yama )
• Tettigonia savignyi (Algeria, Egypt)
• Tettigonia tsushimensis (Japan)
• Tettigonia turcica (Asia Minor)
• Tettigonia ussuriana ( East of Russia to northern China, Korea)
• Tettigonia vaucheriana (Algeria, Morocco)