Bark-mimicking Grasshopper
S9, Juvi, Rear Inside Leg & Hip
Ellura
Bark-mimicking Grasshopper
S6, Juvi, ventral
 
                      
Bark-mimicking Grasshopper (Coryphistes ruricola)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Crickets, Grasshoppers & Katydids (Orthoptera)
Family: Short-horned Grasshopper (Caelifera: Acrididae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Bark-mimicking Grasshopper (Coryphistes ruricola)
This Photo:     S5, Juvi, ventral

Thank you Matthew Connors & David Muirhead for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills, the Riverland and elsewhere
These are a large grasshopper, but we have only managed to capture one adult, yesterday, to measure.
The adult was ~31mm, with juveniles range from 21mm-31mm.
There is a near identical species, Adreppus fallax, which seems to have shorter wings. This is not normally a reliable characteristic to separate out grasshopper species. We will update this page as we learn more.
These have very distinctive antennae, being wide at the bottom narrowing to the tip. The segment lengths are very irregular.
Colours vary dramatically from grey through various shades of brown with or without dark/black banding on the sides. As can be seen, they camouflage very well and are difficult to find unless the move.
The inside legs are very colourful, starting with a blue splash at the hip joint, through maroon with or without white lateral dashes on the thigh, finalising in lavendar to purple shins & feet. To see these colours it's best to try and get your subject to climb something; it then stretches it's hind legs out and the colours become apparant. Typically the inside thigh is dark and looks black to the naked eye outside.

Similar Species: Strong-horned Grasshopper (Retuspia validicornis)

Copyright © 2015-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 27-Aug-2015
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.