''Sigaus australis'' is the most common alpine

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

found in New Zealand. It can be found in the southern half of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

above the tree line. ''Sigaus australis'' was described in 1897 by Frederick Hutton. Like all of New Zealand sub-alpine and alpine grasshoppers ''S. australis'' has a 2 or 3 years life cycle. Individuals can survive the cold by freezing solid at any life stage, at any time of the year. ''Sigaus australis'' adults are relatively large grasshoppers (females ~ 26mm, 0.8g). The genus ''Sigaus'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to New Zealand.

Distribution and habitat

''Sigaus australis'' can be found in the southern half of the

, from

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

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

regions. It can be found as far south as the Takitimu Mountains and as far north as the Torless Range (). ''Sigaus australis'' prefer tussock grasslands between elevation, however, can be found as low as on the Alexandra Tailings, () and as high as on Smite Peak (). Evidence from mtDNA sequencing suggests that ''S. australis'' encompasses several narrow endemic taxa and one widespread species.''Sigaus australis'' would have been more widespread during the last glacial period with both morphological and genetic signature of greater population connectivity in the past. With climate warming and low dispersal potential, ''S. australis'' will probably lose 75% to 93% of its suitable habitat by 2070.

Species description

The wings on ''S. australis'' are micropterous (small wings) between making this species flightless like most of New Zealand grasshoppers. ''Sigaus australis'' is highly cryptic, with colour polymorphism. They will match the surrounding vegetation with colours of green and earth tones.

Type Information

''Paprides australis'' Hutton (1897:147) *Hutton, F.W. 1897: The grasshopper and locusts of New Zealand and the Kermadec Island. Proc. Trans. NZ Inst. 30: 135-50 *Type locality: Probably from Glenorchy, Lake Wakatipu,

. . *Type specimen: Female; C Chilton;

Holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

and

Lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

are deposited in the Canterbury Museum,

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. ''Paprides torquatus'' Hutton (1898:47) *Hutton, F.W. 1898: Notes on the New Zealand. Proc. Trans. NZ Inst. 31: 44-50 *Type locality: Probably from Mount Torlesse,

. . *Type specimen: Male;

deposited in the Canterbury Museum,

. ''Paprides armillaus'' Hutton (1898:47-48) *Hutton, F.W. 1898: Notes on the New Zealand. Proc. Trans. NZ Inst. 31: 44-50 File:NZAcrididae23.jpg, ''Paprides australis'';

and

. File:NZAcrididae25.jpg, ''Paprides torquatus'';

. File:NZAcrididae24.jpg, ''Paprides armillaus'';

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigaus Australis Acrididae of New Zealand Insects described in 1898 Acrididae Endemic insects of New Zealand