Miramella alpina
Encyclopedia
Miramella alpina, the 'Green Mountain Grasshopper', is a species of 'short-horned grasshoppers' belonging to the family Acrididae
subfamily Melanoplinae
.
This common alpine grasshopper is present in Austria
, Belgium
, Czech Republic
, France
, Germany
, Italy
, Poland
, Spain
and Switzerland
.
The adult males grow up to 16–23 mm (0.62992125984252–0.905511811023622 ) long, while the females reach 22–30 mm (0.866141732283465–1.2 )of length. They can be encountered from late June through September, mainly in moist mountain meadows, wet clearings and open woods. They feed on grasses, lichens, mosses and various herbaceous plants, with a preference for Vaccinium
species.
The basic coloration of the body is bright green in both sexes, with longitudinal black stripes at the sides of pronotum, extended to the abdomen in males. The light-brown wings usually are very reduced and unfit to flight (brachyptery). Femora of the hind legs are red on the bottom, while tibiae are yellowish in the females and black in males.
Acrididae
The Acrididae are the predominant family of grasshoppers, comprising some 10,000 of the 11,000 species of the entire suborder Caelifera. The Acrididae are best known because all locusts are of the Acrididae. The subfamily Oedipodinae is sometimes classified as a distinct family Oedipodidae in the...
subfamily Melanoplinae
Melanoplinae
The Melanoplinae are a subfamily of grasshoppers, from the family Acrididae.The type genus Melanoplus from the tribe Melanoplini contains many species common in North America...
.
This common alpine grasshopper is present in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
The adult males grow up to 16–23 mm (0.62992125984252–0.905511811023622 ) long, while the females reach 22–30 mm (0.866141732283465–1.2 )of length. They can be encountered from late June through September, mainly in moist mountain meadows, wet clearings and open woods. They feed on grasses, lichens, mosses and various herbaceous plants, with a preference for Vaccinium
Vaccinium
Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry...
species.
The basic coloration of the body is bright green in both sexes, with longitudinal black stripes at the sides of pronotum, extended to the abdomen in males. The light-brown wings usually are very reduced and unfit to flight (brachyptery). Femora of the hind legs are red on the bottom, while tibiae are yellowish in the females and black in males.
Subspecies
- Miramella alpina var. alpina (Kollar, 1833)
- Miramella alpina var. subalpina (Fischer, 1850)
- Miramella alpina var. albanica Mishchenko, L.L., 1952 - Galvagniella albanica Mishchenko, L.L., 1952
- Miramella alpina var. collina (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1864) - Miramella alpina var. alpina (Kollar, 1833)