''Sigaus villosus'' is

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's largest grasshopper. It is only found in the central mountains of 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 ...

. The genus ''Sigaus'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

. Like all of New Zealand sub-alpine and alpine grasshoppers ''S. villosus'' has a 2 or 3 years

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesis ...

. The eggs must ‘overwinter’ before they will hatch. Hoppers are found throughout the year and adult grasshoppers can be found throughout the

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

between December and April. Adult ''S. villosus'' do not overwinter.

Distribution and habitat

''Sigaus villosus'' is known from the central mountains of the

, with the largest population on the Craigieburn Range. It can be found as far south as the

Fox Peak Fox Peak is a small club skifield located to the east of Lake Tekapo in New Zealand's South Island. Run by a non-profit organisation, the resort features four ski tows and a total vertical range of . The original name for the mountain was Rowley ...

() and as far north as the Mount Wilson (). The black eye grasshopper is a truly high alpine species, as it prefer open bare rocky screes between in altitude, however, it can be found down as low as at the

Porters Ski Area Porters, is a commercial ski resort just over an hour's drive (98km) west from Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. Originally functioning as a club skifield, it has one beginner magic carpet, one platter tow, one chairlift and three ...

at the bottom of long open screes (). Adult grasshoppers are found during the New Zealand summer between October and March.

Species description

This species was first described by J. T. Salmon in 1950 and originally named ''Brachaspis villosa''. The wings on ''S. villosus'' are micropterous (small wings) between making this species flightless like most of New Zealand grasshoppers.

Polymorphism

Only one colour morph are known for adults ''S. villosus'', 'Grey'. All specimens are light grey with black coloured eyes.

Type information

MA I321260 TePapa Sigaus-villosus-Salmon full

*Salmon, J.T. 1950: A new species of Acrididae (Insecta: Orthoptera) from New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Vol. 78, Part 1, page 69, February 1950 *Type locality: Mount Torlesse, ,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. *Type specimen: Immature female; J. T. Salmon;

Holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

Paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). Of ...

and Allotype are deposited in the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

. Plesiotype are deposited in the Canterbury Museum,

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7511968 Acrididae of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Insects described in 1950 Acrididae Endemic insects of New Zealand