Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers have a very self-descriptive name.  They hop from place to place and they prefer to eat grass.  Did you catch that?  They “prefer” to eat grass.  Many grasshoppers are known to be omnivorous which means they eat plants and meat.  Grasshoppers come in many different colors and sizes but are from the suborder caelifera and are found all over the world.  They make a very recognizable sound by rubbing their hind legs against their wings or stomach or by snapping their wings in flight.

Amanda Herman was out for a walk with her son, Sam, when they came across a grasshopper on a bike trail in a nature preserve.  Sam stood and observed the grasshopper, talking to it for a good 20 minutes.  He called him “my friend the grasshopper” and would warn anyone who came close to watch out for “my friend the grasshopper”.

The photo above came from The Animal Kingdom® in Walt Disney World.  Erin Anderson’s family was coming out of the Lion King show when she and her sister-in-law, Christie saw this beautiful eastern lubber grasshopper.  He was a good 5 inches long, at least and just sitting on a branch.  Erin, not wanting to get near it, snapped the picture while Christie got as close as she could and tried to touch it.  Even just thinking about it, Erin is pretty disgusted.