About Oedipoda germanica (Latreille, 1804)
Oedipoda germanica (Latreille, 1804) is a species of short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae, subfamily Oedipodinae. It is sometimes called the red-winged grasshopper, though this common name is also used for Oedipoda miniata. This grasshopper occurs in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the Near East. Adult males reach 15 to 22 millimeters (0.59 to 0.87 inches) in length, while adult females grow to 22 to 32 millimeters (0.87 to 1.26 inches). These grasshoppers can be found from early June to October in warm, dry, stony or rocky habitats. They are almost exclusively plant-eating, feeding mainly on grass in mountain pastures and various herbaceous plants such as Asperula cynanchica, Galeopsis angustifolia, Hippocrepis comosa and Teucrium chamaedrys, among others. Their bodies are quite large and rounded, with a base brown-grayish coloration and darker transverse markings. The median carina on the pronotum is not very raised, and their compound eyes are large. The delicate forewings are straight and narrow, beige with darker bands. The hindwings are red (unlike the turquoise hindwings of Oedipoda caerulescens) with a black band along the margin, and are adapted for flight. Females and males differ in hind tibia color: female tibiae are yellowish, while male tibiae are black. The underside of the hind leg femora is red. Eggs are laid in clusters below the soil surface, and hatch the following spring.
