''Alpinacris tumidicauda'' is a species of

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

only known from

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

and Southland, New Zealand. The genus ''Alpinacris'' is endemic to the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. ''A. tumidicauda'' was described in 1967 by Robert Sidney Bigelow, with a type locality of Obelisk () in the

Old Man Range Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

A male holotype and paratype are deposited in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. Like all of New Zealand sub-alpine and alpine grasshoppers, ''A. tumidicauda'' has a 2- or 3-year life cycle. The eggs must "overwinter" before they will hatch. Hoppers are found throughout the year, and adult grasshoppers can be found throughout the New Zealand summer between December and April. The adult ''A. tumidicauda'' do not overwinter.

Distribution and habitat

''Alpinacris tumidicauda'' is known only from the

and Southland regions of New Zealand.Morris SJ. 2002. Distribution and Taxonomic status of New Zealand endangered grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Department of Conservation, Wellington. It can be found as far south as Cleughearn Peak and as far north as Mount Aurum ''Alpinacris tumidicauda'' prefers alpine tussock grasslands between ; it can, however, be found as low as near the

Nevis River The Nevis River is in Otago, New Zealand. It flows north for through rough country before meeting the Kawarau River, of which it is a tributary. A prominent rock outcrop close to this junction is known as the Nevis Bluff. The river was one ...

It is one of three known species of alpine grasshoppers that are found in Fiordland, the other two being '' Sigaus homerensis'' and '' Sigaus takahe''.Morris, S.J. 2003: Two new species of ''Sigaus'' from Fiordland, New Zealand (Orthoptera: Acrididae). ''New Zealand entomologist'', 26: 65–74
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''Alpinacris tumidicauda'' has a "sister species", '' Alpinacris crassicauda''. There would have originally been only one species of ''Alpinacris'' in the

; however, the Alpine Fault has separated this species over time, so at the present there are two species—''A. tumidicauda'' in southeast of the South Island and ''A. crassicauda'' in the northwest of the island.Trewick SA, Wallis GP. 2001: Bridging the “beech-gap”: New Zealand invertebrate phylogeography implicates Pleistocene glaciation and pliocene isolation. Evolution 55, No. 11: 2170–2180.Heads, M. 1998. Biogeographic disjunction along the Alpine Fault, New Zealand. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 63:161–176.

Species description

''A. tumidicauda'' is micropterous (small-winged), with wings measuring between , making this species flightless like most New Zealand grasshoppers. Male body length is ; female body length is .

Type information

*Bigelow, R. S. (1967). ''The Grasshoppers of New Zealand, Their Taxonomy and Distribution''. Christchurch: University of Canterbury *Type locality: Obelisk, Old Man Range,

, *Type specimen: Male; 3 December 1963; R. S. Bigelow. Holotype and paratype are deposited in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.

Polymorphism

Four colour morphs are known for adult ''A. tumidicauda'': green, olive, dark olive and yellow-brown. The most common colour morph is green, followed by the yellow-brown colour morph. File:NZAcrididae10.JPG, Green colour morph File:NZAcrididae12.JPG, Olive colour morph File:NZAcrididae13.JPG, Dark olive colour morph File:NZAcrididae11.JPG, Yellow-brown colour morph

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4735448 Acrididae of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Insects described in 1967 Acrididae Endemic insects of New Zealand