Slender groundhopper
Tetrix subulata
Cody Chapman · 20623 Highway 2
Key facts in one look
- Size
- 9–15 mm
- Group
- Insect
- Family
- Tetrigidae
- Status in Georgia
- Listed for the country's fauna
- Activity
- All year, most in Sep–Oct and Mar–May
- IUCN
- Not Evaluated (NE)
The slender groundhopper (Tetrix subulata) is the water-lover among groundhoppers: it lives in wet places and can swim and dive. It is 9–15 mm long, and its colour ranges from light grey to almost black or reddish brown. The long, slightly upcurved point of its pronotum is longer than the abdomen. Most have well-developed wings and fly off readily when disturbed. Look for it at the water's edge, on damp, open ground.
Identification
Slender groundhopper: how to identify it
An elongated groundhopper, 9–15 mm long. The key feature is the point of the pronotum: sword-like, slightly curved upwards and clearly longer than the abdomen. This separates it from the long-horned groundhopper, in which the point only reaches the end of the abdomen. Colour will not identify it.
The point of the pronotum is sword-shaped and curves slightly upwards. It is clearly longer than the abdomen and covers the fully developed hind wings hidden beneath it. Seen from the side, the keel of the pronotum is flat and almost straight.
Some individuals have a shortened pronotum and shortened hind wings. Such forms occur regularly. So the length of the point is not always enough to go on.
Seen from above, the eyes are farther apart than their own diameter. This separates it from the similar Tetrix ceperoi, whose eyes are closer together. You will only see this in a close photo or with a hand lens.
Colour
The colour varies greatly: from light grey to very dark or reddish brown. Most are brown and often have a light or dark pattern, which is also variable. Colour will not identify the species.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
The slender groundhopper is an insect of wet places. It lives in moist grasslands by streams, on river banks and on muddy shores. It also occurs in wet woodland clearings, clay and gravel pits, at pond edges and in wheel ruts in damp ground. It prefers patches of open soil but sometimes turns up in drier places. In the mountains it reaches about 1,000 m. It is a good flyer, so it settles new places quickly.
The slender groundhopper 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
- Region with records
The slender groundhopper feeds on mosses, algae, lichens and plant debris. It sometimes also eats grasses and other plants. It finds its food at the water's edge, on damp, open ground.
It spends the winter as an adult, so you can see it all year. It is most numerous in September–October and again from March to May. There is usually one generation a year. Mating lasts from April to June. It makes no sound: the male spots the female by sight and approaches her step by step with a hesitant, waggling gait. When disturbed it flies off readily. It can also swim and dive.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes, it is listed in the catalogue of Georgia's grasshoppers. The specific places where it lives in the country have not yet been described. It chooses wet places: river and stream banks, moist grasslands and pond edges.
Yes. The slender groundhopper can swim and dive. This helps it live at the water's edge. Many groundhoppers live in wet places, and some move on and even under the water.
By the point of the pronotum. In the slender groundhopper it is sword-shaped, slightly upcurved and clearly longer than the abdomen. In the long-horned groundhopper the point only reaches the end of the abdomen. But individuals with a shortened point also occur, so check the features together.
Mosses, algae, lichens and plant debris. It sometimes also eats grasses and other plants. It finds its food at the water's edge, on damp, open ground.
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.
