Spotted bush-cricket

The spotted bush-cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima) occurs sporadically on sunny forest edges and hedges in Switzerland. Their ears are located in the forelegs.

The spotted bush-cricket hears with the front-legs

Grasshoppers hear with the front-legs or with the abdomen. In grasshoppers with long antennae, e.g. the Spotted bush-cricket, there is an oval opening in the shins behind which a tympanic membrane is hidden. Among other things, grasshoppers need their hearing to find their partner.
Researchers have discovered in a closely related grasshopper from South America that the tiny locust ear, measuring only 0.7 mm, functions similarly to the human ear. Behind the eardrum is an inner ear filled with a little liquid. The sound waves cause this fluid to vibrate. Sensory cells register these vibrations, translate them into nerve signals and then transmit them to the brain. Until now, such a complex structure of an ear was only known from mammals.