Bandwings, or band-winged grasshoppers, are the subfamily Oedipodinae of grasshoppers classified under the family Acrididae. They have a worldwide distribution and were originally elevated to full family status as the Oedipodidae. Many species primarily inhabit xeric weedy fields, and some are considered to be important locusts:
Locusta migratoria: the migratory locust
Chortoicetes terminifera: the Australian plague locust
Locustana pardalina the brown locust
These grasshoppers often have colorful hindwings that may be yellow or red and edged with black. Others have black hindwings with pale edges, and a few species (including the most economically important ones) have clear hindwings. The arolium is extremely small or absent.
When bandwings feel safe, they appear drab. When they feel threatened, they leap out to reveal bold and bright colors. Some predators might even mistake the blue-winged grasshopper for a butterfly. But when the predator looks for the grasshopper, it is hiding in the grass. Bandwings continue this process if the predator tries to attack them.
