''Austroicetes frater'', commonly known as the southern austroicetes, is an Australian grasshopper in the subfamily Oedipodinae and genus ''

Austroicetes ''Austroicetes'' is a genus of grasshoppers in the subfamily Oedipodinae (''incertae sedis'') and family Acrididae. Members of the genus typically feed on grass and herbs. Species Several species were placed previously in the genus '' Chorto ...

''. It is found in regions of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Yorktown and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Information regarding the species has been published in Jahresheft des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereines des Trencsiner Comitates (Jahresh. Naturwiss. Ver. Trencsiner Comit. ) 19-20 by Karel Brancsik in 1897. There are no subspecies listed in the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic I ...

Description

The southern austroicetes has a slim, tan body and

burnt umber Umber is a natural brown earth pigment that contains iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural form, it is called raw umber. When calcined, the color becomes warmer and it becomes known as burnt umber. Its name derives from ''terra d'o ...

eyes. It has wings, but mainly jumps with its back legs. A shield, called

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum ( dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron ( lateral) o ...

, is located at the front segment of the

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the ...

. The last section of the leg has four segments and the antennae has more than seven segments. The joint between leg and foot ( tarsi) has 11 segments, with spiracles on the first eight. ''A. frater'' is abundant from mid August to early December. Their diet consists of a diversity of food, although they prefer green

plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

. There has been continuous usage of ULV insecticides and bran baits on the grasshopper.

Life cycle

Adults lay eggs in the ground around June or July. The eggs begin to mature, then go to sleep until they are awoken by the cool weather of

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in Polar regions of Earth, polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring (season), spring. The tilt of Axial tilt#Earth, Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a Hemi ...

. The eggs rapidly mature as

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied on ...

increases in

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

, and hatch the following August when abundant food is available.

Nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

s shed many times, and become adults who lay eggs between October and November. One generation is produced annually.

Etymology

The

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy''. Particu ...

austro- in ''Austroicetes'' is used in compound words, meaning "south". It was derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

word . The word , is the Latin word meaning "brother".

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4825655 Oedipodinae Insects described in 1898

Description

Life cycle

Etymology

See also

References

External links