Is the cicada a grasshopper?

Everyone is quite familiar with grasshoppers, right? Who hasn't caught one when they were a child? Catching grasshoppers in the fields was one of the most fun games at that time. However, there are several types of grasshoppers. Later, all similar insects caught were collectively called grasshoppers. In fact, not all of them are grasshoppers now. Just like the cicada we are going to talk about today, it will "weave, weave, weave" and play beautiful music on summer nights. Now let’s discuss whether a katydid is a grasshopper or not.

Mecopoda elongata (scientific name: Mecopoda elongata) is a medium-sized katydid in the family Mecopodidae and one of the important singing insects. It is large in size, about 50 to 70 mm in length, with a variety of body colors. It is herbivorous and likes to eat the petals of pumpkin and loofah. Since it also eats mulberry leaves, persimmon leaves, walnut leaves, poplar leaves, etc., it is somewhat harmful and is therefore classified as a pest. Cicadas are widely distributed in China, with the largest distribution in the southeastern coastal provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. They are also widely distributed in many other countries in Asia.

The katydid is relatively large, with a body length of about 50 - 70 mm. Its body color comes in green and brown, and its shape is very similar to a laterally flattened bean pod. The head is small, the base of the dorsal plate of the prothorax is mostly black, the forewings are well developed, their width exceeds the base, the wing length is generally twice the length of the abdomen, and there are often vertical rows of black spots. The female insect's ovipositor is curved upward and shaped like a saber. The wing veins of the male insect are nearly net-like, and it has two transparent sound organs. Its antennae are slender and silky, yellowish-brown, and can be up to 80 mm long. Its hind legs are long and large, strong and powerful, with strong elasticity, which allows it to bounce its body up and jump far away.

Grasshoppers are herbivorous insects with chewing mouthparts. Its antennae are short, whip-like, and it has powerful hind legs that it can use to bounce to avoid its predators. The body color is green and brown, which is the protective color of the living environment.

Grasshoppers have large mouths and well-developed jaws and feed on plant leaves. There are more than 12,000 species of grasshoppers in the world, distributed in tropical, temperate grasslands and desert areas around the world.