Grasshoppers

Order Orthoptera¹

Grasshoppers and crickets form this order. This order also includes mole crickets, locusts and katydids. They are most well-known for their ability to jump long distances compared to their body length². The largest grasshopper in Singapore is the Javanese Grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis).

Short-horned Grasshoppers (Suborder Caelifera)³

Javanese Grasshoppers (Valanga nigricornis): mating at Botanic Gardens and nymph at Woodlands ©Tan KH

Javanese Grasshoppers (Valanga nigricornis) at Botanic Gardens ©Sylvia Chua and Mandai Orchid Garden ©Lau SY

Traulia azureipennis at Rifle Range. Phaesticus insularis at Mandai ©Eddy Lee

Apalacris varicornis at Neo Tiew area ©Tan KH

Xenocatantops humilis ©Eddy Lee: adult (left) and nymph (right)

Xenocatantops humilis mating at Jurong Eco Garden ©Lau SY and nymphs at Botanic Gardens ©Sylvia Chua

Euparatettix sp. Rifle Range. Erianthus sp. at Chestnut Trail ©Eddy Lee

Gesonula mundata and mating Pseudoxya diminuta at Botanic Gardens ©Sylvia Chua

Mating Pseudoxya diminuta at Bukit Panjang ©Eddy Lee

Spathosternum prasiniferum at Sengkang ©Tan KH

Aiolopus thalassinus at East Coast ©Sylvia Chua and Tuas ©Tan KH

Crickets, Katydids and Mole Crickets (Suborder Ensifera)⁴

Cricket at Dairy Farm ©Eddy Lee

Cricket at Pulau Punggol ©Tan KH

True Crickets (Family Gryllidae)

Male Nisitrus malaya (used to be Nisitrus vittatus)⁵: ©Tan GC. Bukit Batok Nature Park ©Melvin Dionio

Nisitrus malaya nymph at Sungei Buloh ©Tan KH

Mole Crickets (Family Gryllotalpidae)

Gryllotalpa sp. at Woodlands ©Tan KH

Long-horned Grasshoppers or Katydids (Family Tettigoniidae)

Conehead Conocephalus melaenus nymph. Conocephalus cognatus ©Eddy Lee

Katydids: Dairy Farm. Rifle Range. ©Eddy Lee

Katydid nymph ©Eddy Lee

Katydid at Bukit Chandu ©Tan KH

Leaf-rolling Crickets (Family Gryllacrididae)

Sungei Buloh ©Tan KH

References

1. Orthoptera Species File
2. How to recognize crickets, katydids, and cicadas
3. Orthoptera in the BTNR and CCNR (part 2): Suborder Caelifera
4. Orthoptera in the BTNR and CCNR (part 2): Suborder Ensifera
5. Tan, Ming Kai, Wahab, Rodzay bin Haji Abdul, Japir, Razy, Chung, Authur Y.C., Robillard, Tony (2021): Revision of the cricket genus Nisitrus Saussure (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Eneopterinae) and descriptions of five new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 761 (1): 1-75