Common groundhopper © Philip Precey
Common groundhopper
Looking like a small, armoured grasshopper, this widespread insect is found in damp areas across the UK.
Enw gwyddonol
Tetrix undulataPryd i'w gweld
Mainly March to SeptemberSpecies information
Category
Ystadegau
Length: 8-11mmStatws cadwraethol
Common
Ynghylch
Groundhoppers are related to grasshoppers. They can be recognised by their extremely long pronotum. This is the plate-like section of their body, just behind the head, which covers the thorax. In grasshoppers, it's short and almost saddle-shaped, but in groundhoppers it extends all the way along the back – and sometimes beyond the end of the body. Groundhoppers are usually found in damp places.Unsurprisingly, the common groundhopper is the most widespread of the three species found in the UK. It can be hard to spot, as its mottled colours help it blend in on patches of bare ground and short vegetation, where it feeds on mosses. The common groundhopper favours damp areas like woodland clearings, but can also be found in drier habitats than the other two species. Look out for them hopping away as you walk by.
Sut i'w hadnabod
A small, stocky insect that at first glance could be mistaken for a grasshopper. It has short antennae and long, powerful back legs. Unlike a grasshopper, its pronotum has a raised ridge in the centre and runs all the way along its back, reaching the end of its abdomen. This gives it a heavily armoured appearance. Its colour is mottled but highly variable, from reddish-brown to grey or even almost black.It is smaller than the other two species of groundhopper in the UK (slender groundhopper and Cepero's groundhopper). The ridge along its pronotum (called the median keel) is also more prominently raised compared to them. The other two species usually have a longer pronotum and longer wings, but there is a rare form of the common groundhopper with long wings too.