Painted Grasshopper vs Indian Mole Cricket

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Painted Grasshopper Indian Mole Cricket
Scientific Name Poekilocerus pictus Gryllotalpa krishnani
Order Orthoptera Orthoptera
Family Pyrgomorphidae Gryllotalpidae
Size 40-55 mm 25-35 mm
Habitat Heathland Farmland
Diet Predators Root Feeders
Regions Asia India
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Painted Grasshopper

A strikingly colorful grasshopper with bright yellow and turquoise markings found in the Indian subcontinent. Its vivid coloration warns predators of its toxicity.

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Did You Know?

This grasshopper sequesters toxic cardiac glycosides from the milkweed plants it eats, making it poisonous to birds and other predators.

Indian Mole Cricket

A mole cricket endemic to the Indian subcontinent found in irrigated crop fields. It damages seedling roots in rice nurseries and vegetable plots.

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Did You Know?

Farmers in southern India locate its burrows by following the churring song to the source and flooding the tunnel to extract it.