Bug FAQEgyptian Bird Grasshopper
Anacridium aegyptium · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Acrididae
Also called: Egyptian Grasshopper, Egyptian Locust
Adult males are 30 to 56 mm long and females 46 to 70 mm. They have gray-brown bodies, short robust antennae, blue hind-leg tibiae, orange femora with dark marks, striped eyes and clear wings with dark markings. They live on trees, shrubs, scrub, maquis and orchards from sea level up to 1,500 m in warm, bright areas across Europe, Africa, the Near East and parts of Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Body colour is gray, brown or olive; antennae are short and sturdy; hind-leg tibiae are blue, femora orange with dark spots; eyes have vertical black-white stripes; wings are clear with dark marks.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found on trees, shrubs, scrubland, maquis and orchards in warm, sunny sites from sea level to 1,500 m.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Feeds on leaves of various plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults mate and then overwinter; eggs are laid in spring just below the soil surface, with nymphs appearing in April. Nymphs molt several times, changing colour from yellow to bright green or ocher and gradually developing wings.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are most often seen in August and September but can be active year-round.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Common throughout most of Europe, the Afrotropical region, the eastern Palearctic, the Near East and North Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 6 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Nevada, California, Utah, New Mexico, New York, Arizona.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Acrididae)
Differential GrasshopperMelanoplus differentialisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Two-striped GrasshopperMelanoplus bivittatusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Carolina GrasshopperDissosteira carolinaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Field GrasshopperChorthippus brunneus
Gray Bird GrasshopperSchistocerca nitensDamages trees, gardens or crops
Meadow GrasshopperPseudochorthippus parallelusSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacridium_aegyptium
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.