Common Macrotona

Macrotona australis · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Acrididae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Common Macrotona
Photo: Donald Hobern, CC BY

Adults are between about 1.7 and 3 cm long. Their colour ranges from red to grey, often with a bronze shade behind the rear legs. They live among spinifex grass in heath areas across southern and eastern Australia, including Tasmania and the mainland.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Colour varies from red to grey, and most have a bronze tint behind the rear legs.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Body length is typically 1.7 to 3.0 cm (0.67 to 1.18 in).

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found commonly with spinifex grass in heath habitats.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Occurs in southern and eastern Australia. Its presence is confirmed across mainland Australia and Tasmania.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

First described by Francis Walker in 1870 and also known by several synonyms such as Eumacrotona bella and Heteracris australis.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Common Macrotona photo 3
Photo: Rod Lowther, CC BY

Questions people ask

What colours does the common macrotona have?

It can be red, grey, or have a bronze tint behind the rear legs.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Acrididae)

Differential GrasshopperDifferential GrasshopperMelanoplus differentialisDamages trees, gardens or cropsTwo-striped GrasshopperTwo-striped GrasshopperMelanoplus bivittatusDamages trees, gardens or cropsCarolina GrasshopperCarolina GrasshopperDissosteira carolinaDamages trees, gardens or cropsCommon Field GrasshopperCommon Field GrasshopperChorthippus brunneusEgyptian Bird GrasshopperEgyptian Bird GrasshopperAnacridium aegyptiumGray Bird GrasshopperGray Bird GrasshopperSchistocerca nitensDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_macrotona

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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