Nosey grasshoppers
It’s not uncommon in southern Europe to come across a grasshopper that looks like a stick insect. A quick browse in Chinery’s book on insects and there was a species that matched it well – Acrida ungarica . This book gives no English name but more recently names that crop up are nosed grasshopper or cone-headed grasshopper, from its look, and Hungarian grasshopper, from its scientific name. Insect ID often isn’t that easy and that’s the case here. Paul Tout, Honeyguide leader in Istria and Slovenia , sent me a link to an Italian picture showing two species. Some internet sources show three subspecies. Then Paul Brock’s book ‘A photographic guide to Insects of Southern Europe & the Mediterranean ’ was released late in 2017, and a visit to Crete in April was an ideal time to test this fine new book in the field. Truxalis nasuta or Nosey Cone-headed Grasshopper, Crete, April 2018. Only easy to see this green form when it steps out of the vegetation. The insect