Short-horned Grasshopper

Description:

I originally called this Unidentified Acrididae, but I have checked some more and now think it is Valanga nigricornis (Burmeister, 1838). This one is obviously, a nymph as its wings are not yet developed. Wikipedia explains that there are two characteristics of this kind of grasshopper which help to identify it as being in the family Acrididae. These are "relatively short and stout antennae, and tympana on the side of the first abdominal segment." The antennae can be seen in three of my photos above and the "short and stout" style is familiar to everyone who has seen an Acridid, but the tympanum (hearing organ) is not always easy to see. In most of my photos of Acrididae, the tympani are nearly always hidden behind the large thighs of the hind legs, but I was lucky today and managed to get a glimpse of one in my first photo. So, I marked the photo to help show exactly where it is

Habitat:

This Valanga nigricornis was spotted in our vegetable plot, late this afternoon.

Notes:

To avoid any confusion about the name of the hearing organ mentioned in Wiki's article, I would like to clarify: The correct anatomical name for this organ is Tympanum (singular) and Tympani (plural). The spelling shown in Wikipedia "tympana" appears to be just a typographical error.