| Latin Name | Observation Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Oxya chinensis | May 14, 2026 | Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh |
After taking the pictures, I uploaded them to the iNaturalist app and compared them. After looking at the app results, I learned a lot of new and unknown information about this wonderful insect, which I am sharing with you today.
Name and Family: The common English name of this bright green insect is the Chinese rice grasshopper. In zoology, its scientific name is Oxya chinensis. It is originally a member of the Acrididae family and is a well-known species of the Oxya genus. The biggest characteristic of grasshoppers in this family is that the antennae on their heads are quite short compared to their bodies, so they are also called short-horned grasshoppers.
Native and Habitat: This species of grasshopper is native to various parts of our Asian continent. They are found in large numbers in Bangladesh, India, China and Southeast Asian countries.
They usually prefer to live in damp grassy fields, large weedy bushes and low-lying crop fields. Especially rice fields and the land around them near water bodies are the most ideal habitat for them, because there is ample food and hiding places.
Food and Reproduction: Their diet is completely vegetarian or herbivorous in nature. They mainly eat young green grass, soft rice leaves and the tops of various small wild trees. They are quite voracious insects and can be seen chewing leaves most of the day.
In terms of reproduction, female grasshoppers usually make small holes in damp soft soil or near mud and lay eggs. They choose a place to lay their eggs that is safe and has the right humidity. After a few days, the eggs hatch into nymphs or wingless young. These young gradually reach their full size by changing their shells several times and once they grow wings, they start flying.
Beneficial and harmful aspects: Although this insect is somewhat harmful to agricultural land, it plays a very important role in maintaining the balance of our nature's vast food chain or ecosystem.
Benefits: When these grasshoppers jump around in the fields, they serve as the main food for predators such as various species of wild birds, frogs, lizards and large spiders. Many beneficial animals in nature survive by eating them, due to which the biodiversity and balance of our natural environment is maintained beautifully.
Harm: They often cause big problems for farmers, because they attack rice fields in groups and eat the young leaves of rice in such a way that the crop is severely damaged. Due to their attack, the normal growth of seedlings often stops and the yield decreases alarmingly, so they are considered as harmful insects or 'pests' in agricultural science.
All in all, this small member of nature is not only a cause for concern for crops, but also essential for the environment. Do you see such green grasshoppers with black spots on both sides in the fields and ghats of your area? You can tell us in the comments.
I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.
(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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| Camera Used | Samsung SM-G973F |
|---|---|
| F-Stop | F2.4 |
| ISO speed | ISO |
| Focal length | 26mm |
| Flash | No |
| Editing app | MIX |
| Photography | Chinese rice grasshopper (Oxya chinensis) |
| Photographer |  |
| Location | Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh |
| Link to original community |
|---|
| https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/362761189 |
| Latitude | Longitude | Map Link |
|---|---|---|
| 24.3363 | 89.1134 | https://www.openstreetmap.org/?#map=12/24.3363/89.1134 |