Page 199 - An Anthology of Intriguing Animals (DK)

Grasshopper

I n the summer, grassy places buzz with insects. Many of them

are grasshoppers. Male grasshoppers make a chirping song to

attract a partner. They rub their back legs against their wings, like
they are playing a violin. In Ancient China, people kept grasshoppers

as musical pets.

Grasshopper jaws are made for chewing plants, and the insects

can be pests. Normally they live on their own, but when certain
types of grasshopper gather in big numbers they are known as

locusts. When the desert locust joins a crowd, it changes
completely. It turns from brown to bright yellow

and gets a big appetite. These locusts
create super-swarms containing billions

of insects, which can eat whole fields
of crops, leaving nothing behind

but bare stalks.

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