Grasshopper
Arthropod: “Jointed Leg”
Classification
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Common Name: Grasshopper
Scientific Name: Romalea
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Other Classification: Subphylum
Uniramia
Major Distinguishing
Characteristics
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1. Body Plan: Head, Thorax, Abdomen
2. Body Cavity: Coelom - true open space
3. Symmetry: Bilateral
4. Cell Specialization: Organ Systems
5. Other: exhibit Incomplete
Metemorphosis - Nymph: physically
resembles adult but lacks reproductive
structures
Life Support Processes
• Absorption: intestine
• Feeding: specialized mouth parts to cut &
chew plants/grass - herbivores
• Digestion: digestive tract
Life Support Processes
• Respiration: Tracheal Tubes lead to
Spiracles; tubular network for gas
exchange; body movement causes air to
flow in & out
• Circulation: Heart - Open circulation
• Excretion: Malpighian Tubules- excrete
nitrogenous wastes; Spiracles excrete CO2
Life Support Processes
• Secretion: Digestive enzymes secreted by
the Gastric Caeca
• Response: Tympanum membrane located
behind the leg - ear drum; Compound Eye,
well developed ganglia in head - sense of
taste, chemical receptors
• Movement: Walking legs, jumping legs,
wings
Life Support Processes
• Reproduction: separate sexes; male uses
his ovipositors to deposit sperm in the
female - internal fertilization. Female uses
her ovipositor to dig hole in ground for eggs
• Support: Exoskeleton
Ecological Relationships
• Herbivores - low on food chain
• Swarms - agricultural pests
• Live on Land
Body Systems Compared with
Humans
• Tracheal tubes are comparable to Bronchi &
Bronchiole tubes of human lungs
• Malpighian Tubules - kidney
Advancements Over the Previous
Phylum
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Specialized appendages
Extremely well developed sense organs
Ability to fly
Efficient respiratory network
• Some grasshoppers rub their wings together
to create music, others snap their wings
together while flying, and others just rub
their hind legs across their front wings.
• Grasshoppers consume green forage at a
rate of roughly eight times their weight.
• A grasshopper can leap over obstacles
500 times its own height. In relation to its
size, it has the greatest jumping ability of
all animals.