grasshopper?

[moonbells]

ok can anyone identify this chap please?

I am not kidding when I say it was 4" long... 



moonbells

[moonbells]

[lorna]

Moonbells no idea what it is but looks pretty gruesome to me. I don't thinkl I would have got that near to take pic :o Regards Lorna

[Robert_Brenchley]

Where did you see the monster? it looks like the common ground hopper, but if it was four inches long it can't be. Unless it's a mutated superhopper coming to take over the world I suppose.

[dibberxxx]

no ideal what sort of grasshopper it is but i dont want it to hop my way

[Roy Bham UK]

:o WOW :o Hope I don't ever find one on my Lottie :o

[Jane the Novice]

BlimeyMoonbells!!! I sure hope it doesn't have teeth ;D

[honeybee]

OMG It looks like something off a horror movie  :o

[moonbells]

yerse, it is scary, this was the problem. Even though it *was* in a garden centre I don't want to find it's a female locust... can you imagine?

(I rather hope that the proprietor put his foot on it after we'd gone)

I have emailed Wisley.

moonbells

[Glyn]

I think it's a Locust.
Nice pic

[Twospot Ladybird]

Hi Moonbells,

Looking in my bug book, it looks like the Egyptian Grasshopper (Anacridium aegyptium).

Here's what book says about it :

"The Egyptian Grasshopper is as large and impressive as the Locust, and more likely to be seen in Europe than the Locust, though only in the south. They can fly well, but normally only over short distances, and they never form swarms or cause significant damage. It is a southern species, occurring almost throughout south Europe, including many of the islands, and it will occasionally turn up further north, perhaps brought in accidentally."

Description in book :

Predominantly mottled greyish brown, distinctly bulky. DISTINGUISHABLE from Locust by the VERTICALLY STRIPED eyes, which are quite conspicuous.

Size, body length up to 40mm (males), 65mm(Females). Not as big as what you said but book doesn't say if this size is body alone or if it includes head and wings.

[Doris_Pinks]

When I first saw the pic I immediately thought aghhhhhhhhh  a plague of locusts are decending!  Will be interested to hear what Wisley say!

[moonbells]

Oh fantastic TSL! - those eyes are indeed weirdly vertically striped and it definitely sounds like a match.

65mm - yes, that would fit if just the body. I ought to pop back and measure the stake, then I'd have a proper scale to work with.  Either way it was enormous.

:)

moonbells

[aquilegia]

What a beauty!

(Do excuse my insanity, but I love insects!)

[moonbells]

Twospot Ladybird was right!

Got a reply this morning from the RHS:

"The large grasshopper that you found at a garden centre is likely to be a species commonly known as the Egyptian grasshopper, Anacridium aegypticum.  This occurs in the Mediterranean area and it occasionally turns up in this country.  It is likely that it is brought here on imported plants.  It is quite possible that some of the plants in the garden centre may have been imported from places such as Italy where this large grasshopper occurs.  It is unlikely that this insect will survive in this country, although if our climate continues to become warmer it is possible that some of these Mediterranean area insects will establish themselves in Britain."

moonbells