Variegated Grasshopper vs Oceanic Field Cricket

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Variegated Grasshopper Oceanic Field Cricket
Scientific Name Zonocerus variegatus Teleogryllus oceanicus
Order Orthoptera Orthoptera
Family Pyrgomorphidae Gryllidae
Size 30-50mm Body 22-28 mm
Habitat Farmland Beaches & Coastal
Diet Herbivores Parasites
Regions Africa Australia, Pacific Islands, Hawaii
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Variegated Grasshopper

A brightly colored grasshopper with striking patterns of yellow, green, black, and orange. It feeds on toxic plants and sequesters the toxins for defense. It forms large aggregations.

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Did You Know?

It deliberately eats toxic plants to make itself poisonous, and its bright colors warn predators of this.

Oceanic Field Cricket

A widespread Pacific cricket found from Australia to Hawaii with a loud, clear chirp. Some Hawaiian populations have rapidly evolved silent wings to avoid parasitic flies.

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Did You Know?

In just 20 generations, Hawaiian males evolved flat, silent wings to escape a parasitic fly that locates hosts by sound.