The Large Banded Grasshopper (Arcyptera fusca) is a medium-sized invertebrate insect in the Acrididae family of short horned grasshoppers. 

The Large Banded Grasshopper is a yellow-green or brownish-green colour with dark markings. It has long, strong hind (back) legs that enable it to jump long distances. Its hind legs are red, with black and white banded knees. The male has wings and can fly, whereas the female has only basic wings and cannot fly. 

It grows to 2-4 centimetres (1 inch) long. 

The Large Banded Grasshopper is native to Central Asia, and in the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, the Caucasus, and Siberia. It prefers alpine and mountainous meadows and grasslands. 

It is a diurnal grasshopper, active during the day. It eats foliage, such as grass and leaves. 

The female Large Banded Grasshopper has an ovipositor, which is a tube used to lay eggs. The ovipositor is slightly arched upward. She lays eggs in loose soil, among plant roots or in rotting wood. She lays 10-60 eggs which hatch after about nine months. 

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM