Sphingonotus satrapes
Sphingonotus satrapes
Dr. Nasser Halaweh · Balkh
Key facts in one look
- Size
- Males 27.5–35 mm, females 37.5–45 mm
- Group
- Insect, grasshopper
- Family
- Acrididae
- Habitat
- Loess foothill deserts
- Status in Georgia
- Eastern Georgia, Shiraki
- IUCN
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Sphingonotus satrapes is one of the largest Sphingonotus grasshoppers: females measure 37.5–45 mm and males 27.5–35 mm. It lives in loess foothill deserts, from Central Asia and southern Kazakhstan to Transcaucasia, Iran, Iraq and Palestine. In Georgia it occurs in the east, including Shiraki. The hindwing is milky or slightly greenish yellow at the base, with a broad dark band and a large dark spot at the tip. If a large grasshopper takes off in the dry foothills, watch the wing tip: this species has a large dark spot there.
Identification
Sphingonotus satrapes: how to identify it
A very large Sphingonotus. The hindwing is milky or slightly greenish yellow at the base, with a broad dark band in the middle and a large dark spot at the tip. The antennae are uniformly yellow, and the hind tibiae yellowish.
Males measure 27.5–35 mm and females 37.5–45 mm; the forewing is 31–37.5 mm in males and 33–42 mm in females. At this size it clearly exceeds related species. Still, do not identify it by size alone.
The dark band of the hindwing is broad, narrows towards the rear and reaches both edges of the wing. The wing tip carries a large dark spot, sometimes split into 2–3 separate spots. The base is milky or slightly greenish yellow.
The median keel of the pronotum is raised into a small crest at the front, and the rear part has distinct lateral keels. The antennae are uniformly yellow, without rings. The inner side of the hind femur is black with two complete pale bands.
Sphingonotus savignyi also has a dark-banded wing, but it is smaller, its wing base is completely colourless, and it has no large spot at the tip. Sphingonotus salinus has a rose-red wing base. Sphingonotus species can often be told apart reliably only by comparison with accurately identified specimens.
Colour
The hindwing is milky or slightly greenish yellow at the base, with a broad dark band in the middle and a large dark spot at the tip. The antennae are yellow, the inner side of the hind femur is black with two pale bands, and the hind tibiae are yellowish.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Often confused with
It is an insect of loess foothill deserts. Its range runs from southern Kazakhstan and the Central Asian lowlands, including the Fergana Valley, through Transcaucasia, Iran, Iraq and Palestine; it has also been collected in Afghanistan, Armenia and Kuwait. In Georgia it occurs in the east. One known site is Shiraki, a dry steppe plain in the south-east of the country.
Like most Sphingonotus species, it lives on the surface of open ground, where there is no dense plant cover. Many Sphingonotus species are tied to a single type of desert and are regarded as reliable indicators of it; for this species it is the loess foothills. On newly reclaimed land it sometimes damages young crops.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes, in eastern Georgia. One known site is Shiraki. It favours dry loess foothill deserts. Its numbers in Georgia are not known.
Mainly by its size and hindwing. Females reach 45 mm; the wing base is milky or greenish yellow, with a broad dark band in the middle and a large dark spot at the tip. The antennae are uniformly yellow. Sphingonotus savignyi is smaller and has no large spot at the wing tip.
Sometimes. Damage to young crops on newly reclaimed land is known. This concerns the dry foothills where it lives.
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.
