Adults are usually 12–20 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Omocestus rufipes
A grasshopper that advertises its identity with both a mechanical song and brilliant white mouthpart tips.
About this species
Woodland Grasshopper
Omocestus rufipes(Zetterstedt, 1821)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Omocestus rufipes is a compact grasshopper of dry, warm European and western Asian habitats. Males use a patterned stridulatory song in courtship, while the conspicuous pale tips of the maxillary palps add an unusual visual signal near the mouth.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Orthoptera · Acrididae · Gomphocerinae · Omocestus
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe, North Africa and temperate western to central AsiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Europe, North Africa and temperate western to central Asia
Dry grassland, heath, woodland clearings, scrub and sunny slopes.
Diurnal in warm weather, with adults mainly from summer into autumn.
Grasses and other low vegetation.
Solitary; males sing from low vegetation or the ground.
What makes this species remarkable?
The male produces a species-recognition song by rubbing a row of pegs on the hind femur against a vein of the forewing, converting leg movement into a precisely timed pulse sequence.
Its maxillary palps end in striking white tips that contrast strongly with the dark head and are proposed to function as close-range visual signals during courtship.
Mature males often develop a vivid red-orange underside and hind legs, transforming an otherwise cryptic grasshopper into a multi-channel signal combining colour and sound.