''Galidacris'' is a genus of

grasshoppers 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. Grasshop ...

belonging to the family Acrididae. They are found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

within Colombia and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

Behavior

The males of the genus have been recorded approaching a female, moving their hind legs (knee-waving) and antennae (twitch-back) silently. The reasoning behind this requires further study. This behavior is a mark of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

as members in more distantly related grasshoppers share this behavior, while other closer genera do not.

Species

* '' Galidacris agilis'' (Descamps & Amédégnato, 1972) * '' Galidacris cordillerae'' (Descamps & Amédégnato, 1972) * '' Galidacris eckardtae'' (Günther, 1940) * '' Galidacris variabilis'' (Descamps & Amédégnato, 1972)

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q10502204 Acrididae Acrididae genera