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Characteristics

A grasshopper that looks like a female piggybacking a male. It is shaped like a rhombus stretched vertically. The body color varies depending on the habitat, with some being green and others being pale brown.

Females are about twice as large as males and look fatter than males. The male has a delicate body. An antenna extends in a V shape from the tip of the head.

Ecology

Commonly seen in meadows and flowerbeds after spring. It eats kudzu and kudzu.

As the Japanese name suggests, you can see the male riding on the back of the female. It is thought that this is for mating, but it is also ridden when not mating.

Habitat

Katakura Castle Ruins Park

I took this photo in the grassland along the wooden path in the park. Many were green. The individual photographed was still in a piggy back position.

When I was a kid, I had countless memories of catching grasshoppers, so much so that when I think of grasshoppers, I think of them as long-tailed locusts.