Slender Gumleaf Grasshopper - Goniaea vocans
Family Acrididae
This page contains pictures and information about the Slender Gum Leaf Grasshoppers that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 50mm
- The Slender Gumleaf Grasshopper is brown in colour, camouflages as a dry gum leaf. We can sometimes find them on the ground with the dry Gum tree leaves when bushwalking in Eucalyptus forest. This species is easily confused with the Gumleaf Grasshopper Goniaea australasiae. Slender Gumleaf Grasshopper has the carina, or the top edge of thorax, lower and less pronounced, and has a distinct cut.
- Adult, body length 50mm
- Their colours vary from pale brown to orange brown.
- Adult is characteristic by the prominent arched crest on thorax, it is sharp, together with the colour, resemble dry gum leaf. We found the above adult grasshopper in the gum tree forest in the conservation area near Alexander Hill in Brisbane in early winter. The grasshopper usually resting on ground among the dead dry leaf.
- Both male and female of Gumleaf Grasshoppers are fully winged. Males are smaller in size. When disturbed, they jump and fly about a few meters away. When flying, we saw their bright yellow-orange abdomen and hind wings.
- Nymph, 4th instars, body length 20mm
- Nymph, 5th instars, body length 30mm
