Common Names: Vegetable Grasshopper, Northern Grass Pyrgomorph, Green Grass Pyrgomorph
Species: Atractomorpha similisFamily: PYRGOMORPHIDAE
Anyone who lives in South-East Queensland where I do would have seen one of these little guys, they are Atractomorpha similis, commonly called Vegetable Grasshoppers as well as a host of other names that children come up with for them. I think I always used to call them long-nosed grasshoppers as a kid. This one is likely an adult female due to it's size and fully developed wings. Apparently there's another very similar species called Atractomorpha australis, which can only be found in its adult stage from Feburary to April while Atractomorpha similis can be founds in its adult stage all year round. This photo wasn't taken in Feburary, March or April so I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume it's Atractomorpha similis, studiers of Pyrgomorphs please don't crucify me. This one looks to be hanging around on a geranium leaf, perhaps it's just had a feed. It sadens me to think how many of these poor critters get sacrified to lawn mower blades everytime the grass is mown. I much prefer these to the larger Giant Grasshoppers that also hang around my garden, mostly because they're smaller, eat less and are less likely to startle me when I don't see them while gardening.
