From Wikimalia
| The Bug Collection
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| Marshland Grasshopper
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| Habitat: | Low-lying boggy marshes and swamps.
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| Description: | Ranging in color from grassy greens to reedy browns, this two-to-four-thum long insect is an able leaper. Dual wings folded under its carapace aid the jumps in a brilliant fluttering of noisy yellow-spotted commotion. Twin long thin antennae remain active as the creature forages, feeding on practically anything leafy. Its elongated back legs remain folded until needed for escape or foraging, at which time their spring-loaded potential is manifest. Constantly alert, they are often difficult to observe closely. The narrow, flattened leaf-like carapace of the grasshopper is also a passably good camouflage.
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| Notes: | While folklore holds that the grasshopper 'spits n chews', the brown droplets of 'tobacco' are actually a digestive fluid, which can also be employed as a caustic deterrent to potential predators. While harmless to most humanoid skin, this digestive fluid can wreak havoc with crops and gardens.
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Grasshopper gender may be distinguished by the size of the abdomen, which is generally greatly more elongated in female specimens than in the males. Marshland grasshoppers also undergo a locust metamorphosis in sufficient numbers. During such cycles, their chitin hardens, their wings elongate, and their color darkens. Some sort of swarm behavior also alters their diet to nearly any vegetable matter, making them a true plague insect under the right conditions.
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