Life cycle of the grasshopper

1. Life cycle of the grasshopper Simple metamorphosis

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.