Miramella alpina, commonly known as the green mountain grasshopper, is a species of short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae.
Subspecies Miramella alpina var. alpina (Kollar, 1833) Miramella alpina var. subalpina (Fischer, 1850) Miramella alpina var. albanica Mishchenko, L.L., 1952 - Galvagniella albanica Mishchenko, L.L., 1952 Miramella alpina var. collina (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1864) - Miramella alpina var. alpina (Kollar, 1833)
Distribution This common alpine grasshopper is present in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.Fauna europaea
Description The adult males grow up to long, while the females reach of length. The basic coloration of the body is bright green in both sexes, with longitudinal black stripes at the sides of pronotum, extended to the abdomen in males. The light-brown wings usually are very reduced and unfit to flight (brachyptery). Femora of the hind legs are red on the bottom, while tibiae are yellowish in the females and black in males.
Biology and behavior They can be encountered from late June through September, mainly in moist mountain meadows, wet clearings and open woods. They feed on grasses, lichens, mosses and various herbaceous plants, with a preference for Vaccinium species.
References Citations
Bibliography Galvagni A., 1986 - The situation of the genus Miramella Dovnar-Zapolskij, 1933, in the Balcanic and Carpathic regions (Insecta: Caelifera: Catantopidae). Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali, Acta Biol. 62 Roman Asshoff and Stephan Hättenschwiler - Growth and reproduction of the alpine grasshopper Miramella alpina feeding on CO 2-enriched dwarf shrubs at treeline - Oecologia 142, Number 2, 191-201 Kral K., 2008 - Similarities and differences in the peering-jump behavior of three grasshopper species (Orthoptera, Caelifera). Insect Science 15, 369-374 Kral K., 2009 - Comparison of the use of active vision for depth perception in three grasshopper families (Orthoptera: Caelifera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 102, 339-345
External links Fauna Europaea Biolib Orthoptera Species Www1.0su.cz