''Tetrix undulata'', the common ground-hopper, is a species of groundhopper in the

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...

Caelifera The Caelifera are a suborder of orthopteran insects. They include the grasshoppers and grasshopper-like insects, as well as other superfamilies classified with them: the ground-hoppers (Tetrigoidea) and pygmy mole crickets (Tridactyloidea). ...

Description

''T. undulata'' has a body length of ; females are usually slightly larger than the males. The colour scheme varies between different individuals and different morphs are present, from darker brownish to lighter yellow-white. Individuals with predominantly light colour often have a darker pattern.

Distribution

''T. undulata'' is essentially a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an species, where it is widespread: distribution ranges from Spain via France, the Benelux countries, most parts of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, Germany, Denmark, southern Scandinavia, the southwestern tip of Finland and Poland east to the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania and the European part of Russia. The southern boundary of their distribution runs through the Provence, the Jura, the south of Baden-Wuerttemberg, along the northern edge of the Alps and the north of Austria via the west of the Czech Republic and Poland. In the more easterly areas, the species is isolated. It is the most common species of the family in northern Europe.Heiko Bellmann: Der Kosmos Heuschreckenführer. Die Arten Mitteleuropas sicher bestimmen. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006,

Biology

The habitat is usually moister grasslands such as

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

and

marshes A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

, but it may also occur in drier areas. In dry environments, however, it usually keeps to humid and cooler places, and in wet environments it tends to stick to drier areas. Food consists mainly of mosses and algae. Development from egg to adult may take one or two years, with over-wintering as nymphs or imagos. As with other ground-hoppers, communication between males and females is largely with visual signals.

References

''Orthoptera Species File''. Eades D.C., Otte D., Cigliano M.M., Braun H., (retrieved 30 January 2018)
/ref> {{Taxonbar, from=Q1500642 undulata Orthoptera of Europe Insects described in 1806