Life cycle of the grasshopperSimple metamorphosis

Reproduction

Male introduces sperm into the females ovipositor

Sperm enters the eggs through fine canals called micropyles

The female inserts the eggs one to two inches underground in summer

She sprays the eggs with a slick substance which forms a pod

Pod contains 15 to 150 eggs Each female can lay up too 25

pods

Egg to nymph

Grasshoppers undergo simple metamorphosis

Egg are oval, the size of kernels of rice

Eggs may be white, yellow-green, tan, or various shades of brown

Eggs hatch into nymphs, which look like little adults without wings or reproductive organs

Metamorphosis of the nymph

Newly hatched nymphs are white

With exposure to sunlight they assume distinctive color and markings of adults

Picture shows six stages of development from small wingless nymph to fully grown winged adult

Grasshoppers do not take care of their young once they have hatched

Grasshoppers in popular culture

“The ant and the grasshopper”, written by Aesop (620-560 BC)

In “Poprygunya” written by Chekhov in 1892 an unfaithful woman (hopping from man to man) was known as a grasshopper.

Later those who were unable to focus on a single subject (hopping from one thing to another) was said to have a grasshopper’s mind.

Recently, (1972-1975) in the T.V. show Kung Fu, the trainee, who had much to learn, was called grasshopper.

In the 1998 movie, “A Bug’s Life” the heroes are members of an ant colony, and the villain is, who else, the grasshopper.