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I spotted a grasshopper standing on a pavement with a long sting placed in asphalt. I also recorded a video of it moving:

https://youtu.be/JoDdg2yUuYo

What is it doing?

enter image description here

theforestecologist
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kamilazdybal
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1 Answers1

23

It's its ovipositor & it's trying to dig a hole to lay its eggs.

"How Do Grasshoppers Dig Holes to Lay Their Eggs? After breeding, female grasshoppers dig a hole in the ground in which to lay their eggs by using a special tube in their abdomen known as an ovipositor. The ovipositor is first used to dig the hole, and then to deposit the eggs one by one into the hole"

Probably not having much success on tarmac, did it eventually move onto soil?

Pelinore
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    Interesting! I didn't see anything left in the pavement holes. Are its eggs visible to human eye? Yes, after a while I pushed it a bit since I didn't want it to stay on the road and it jumped onto the soil but I didn't observe it anymore. – kamilazdybal Sep 08 '19 at 18:15
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    @camillejr : Unless it found a deep enough crack in the tarmac it probably didn't lay anything there, not if it couldn't drive it's ovipositor deep enough, most likely laid its eggs in soil after you moved it. – Pelinore Sep 08 '19 at 18:24
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    @camillejr : They should be visible yes. – Pelinore Sep 08 '19 at 18:30