BLADDER GRASSHOPPER

Bladder grasshoppers are amongst the most spectacular sound producing insects in the world.

Bladder Grasshopper, Pneumora sp., Order Orthoptera

Bladder Grasshoppers are unique to Africa, South of the Sahara, and most species are endemic to South Africa. The order Orthoptera contains some of the most spectacular sound producing insects such as crickets and grasshoppers.. The ability to hear and to produce sounds has developed several times in these insects. Unlike crickets, which sing by rubbing their forewings together, male Bladder Grasshoppers sing by rubbing their hind legs against a file on the abdomen, an inflated 'bladder', which resonates to produce the sound. In some species it is known that the flightless female is able to answer the male. One of the problems that affects these insects is that the males of some species are strongly attracted to lights. However the females are not able to fly, so lights may attract the males away from the females and this is not of benefit to the population.

A winged male bladder grasshopper photographed in Namaqualand, in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

The abdomen of this insect is a hollow resonating chamber used to
amplify the sounds produced by rubbing the leg against a file on the abdomen.