| Green Mountain Grasshopper (Miramella alpina (Kollar, 1833)) |
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Scientific name: Miramella alpina (Kollar, 1833) Common name: Green Mountain Grasshopper French name: Miramelle alpestre Order: Orthoptera Family: Acrididae Wingspan : 16-23 mm for males, 22-31 mm for females. Biotope: Mountain meadows with high grasses, clearings, forests pathways. Geographic area: There is one isolated population in the Pyrenees. Alps east to the Carpathian Mountains and adjacent lower mountains, Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, etc. The Miramella alpina subalpina subspecies is found in the western part of the range east to northern Switzerland. The Miramella alpina alpina subspecies is found in the eastern part of the range, from eastern Switzerland and Austria. Observation period : June to October. |
The Green Mountain Grasshopper is a strong green ground colour. A broad black stripe starts at the back of the eye and extends to the back of the pronotum on females and to the tip of the abdomen on males. The wings are very short, brownish and often with a thin green border on the upper edge. Green Mountain Grasshoppers are not able to fly. The underside of the hind leg femora is red. Males' tibias are black, those of females are yellowish. Miramella carinthiaca which is only found in the south-eastern part of the Austrian Alps and in Slovenia prefers areas with very short grass. Miramella formosanta which is found in the southern Alps, that's to say in the north of Italy and in the neighbouring regions of Switzerland prefers shrubs and bushes. Miramella irena shows longer wings. This species is found from north-eastern Italy and southern Austria to Romania, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. |
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The black stripe not extending after the back of the pronotum indicate one female. |
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Mating. You can see that males are clearly smaller than females. |
André Bon October 2021