Desert sand grasshopper
Sphingonotus rubescens
Vanya Mitin · Tbilisi Georgia field photo
Key facts in one look
- Size
- Males 15.5–23 mm, females 20–33 mm
- Group
- Insect, grasshopper
- Family
- Acrididae
- Habitat
- Stony, pebbly and sandy ground, river banks
- Status in Georgia
- Photographed in Kakheti
- IUCN
- Not Evaluated (NE)
The desert sand grasshopper (Sphingonotus rubescens) is a widespread Sphingonotus species: it occurs from the Canary Islands and Madeira through North Africa and the Mediterranean to Central Asia and India. It also lives in Transcaucasia, and in Georgia it has been photographed in Kakheti. It favours stony, pebbly and sandy places and often sits on pebbles along river banks. Females measure 20–33 mm and males 15.5–23 mm. It has no dark band on either the forewings or the hindwings, which makes it hard to tell from related species.
Identification
Desert sand grasshopper: how to identify it
A medium-sized grasshopper of open ground, without bands. The forewings have small scattered speckles, and the hindwing has no dark band. The inner side of the hind femur is blackish with pale bands, and the hind tibia is bluish or yellowish.
The forewings have no dark bands, only small scattered speckles. The wing is 5.8–6 times longer than wide. The hindwing has no dark band either, which separates it from the band-winged Sphingonotus species.
The inner side of the hind femur is blackish with two pale bands, one of which is often incomplete. The hind tibia is bluish or yellowish. The body and legs carry sparse hairs.
Males measure 15.5–23 mm and females 20–33 mm; the forewing is 17.5–28 mm in males and 24–35 mm in females. Southern individuals are larger than northern ones. Its size overlaps with many related species.
It is hardest to tell from the related Sphingonotus caerulans, with which older works confused it. Among Sphingonotus species, those without a wing band are the most difficult to identify. A sure answer needs comparison with accurately identified specimens.
Colour
The forewings are unbanded, with small scattered speckles, and the hindwing shows no dark band. The inner side of the hind femur is blackish with pale bands, and the hind tibiae are bluish or yellowish.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
It favours stony, pebbly and sandy places: rocky slopes, dunes and ravines, deserts and semi-deserts, and the foot of mountains. It often sits on pebbles along river banks. In southern Kazakhstan it has also been found at the edges of rice fields. Its range runs from the Canary Islands and Madeira through North Africa, Greece, Arabia and Western Asia to the Lower Volga, Dagestan, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, India and Kashmir. In Georgia it has been photographed in Kakheti: in August 2024 and September 2026.
The desert sand grasshopper map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density. Records are still too few: no region has enough records yet.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
Like most Sphingonotus species, it lives on the surface of open ground, where there is no dense plant cover. It lays its eggs in the ground. In Georgia it has been photographed in August and September.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes. It lives in Transcaucasia, and in Georgia it has been photographed in Kakheti, in August 2024 and September 2026. Its numbers in Georgia are not known.
It has no dark band on either the forewings or the hindwings; the forewings carry only small speckles. The inner side of the hind femur is blackish with pale bands, and the hind tibia is bluish or yellowish. The related Sphingonotus caerulans looks very similar. Unbanded Sphingonotus species are often told apart only by a specialist.
In stony, pebbly and sandy places with sparse vegetation: on rocky slopes, dunes, in ravines, deserts and semi-deserts. It often sits on pebbles along river banks. In southern Kazakhstan it has also been found at the edges of rice fields.
No. It has not been evaluated on the global IUCN Red List (NE) and is not on the 2014 Red List of Georgia. Not being assessed does not mean the species faces no threat.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
