Miramella alpina

Miramella alpina
Miramella alpina, male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Family: Acrididae
Genus: Miramella
Species: M. alpina
Binomial name
Miramella alpina
(Kollar, 1833)
Synonyms
  • Kisella alpina (Kollar, 1833)

Miramella alpina, the 'Green Mountain Grasshopper', is a species of 'short-horned grasshoppers' belonging to the family Acrididae subfamily Melanoplinae.

This common alpine grasshopper is present in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.

''Miramella alpina, mating pair

The adult males grow up to 16–23 millimetres (0.63–0.91 in) long, while the females reach 22–30 millimetres (0.87–1.18 in)of length. They can be encountered from late June through September, mainly in moist mountain meadows, wet clearings and open woods. They feed on grasses, lichens, mosses and various herbaceous plants, with a preference for Vaccinium species.

The basic coloration of the body is bright green in both sexes, with longitudinal black stripes at the sides of pronotum, extended to the abdomen in males. The light-brown wings usually are very reduced and unfit to flight (brachyptery). Femora of the hind legs are red on the bottom, while tibiae are yellowish in the females and black in males.

References

Subspecies

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