Spur-throated Locust - Austracris proxima
Family Acrididae
This page contains pictures and information about the Spur-throated Locust that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 60mm
This is a large grasshopper. It is greyish-brown in colour. Its hind legs are pinkish brown. Both male and female are fully winged. They are strong jumper and active flier. They may rest on ground among grasses or hide on shrubs.
- The above photos were taken near a lagoon in Karawatha forest during late summer. The grasshopper tried to hide behind the sedges. It jumped and flied away when we came closer.
- This seems to us that this grasshoppers are easy to found in those area cut open in forests where become the temporary grasslands. We always saw them near the old quarry and found them sometimes on those clean up area under high-voltage power lines.
- Photo: Keith Power, Toowoomba
- This is one of the pest locust, forms swarms and can reach plague status in Australia. They attack various crops like sorghum, sunflower or soybean.
- This grasshopper undergoes eight instars stages.
- Reference:
- 1. Grasshopper Country - the Abundant Orthopteroid Insects of Australia, D Rentz, UNSW Press, 1996, p192.
- 2. A Guide to Australian Grasshoppers and Locusts - DCF Rentz, RC Lewis, YN Su and MS Upton, 2003, p337.
