Betiscoides meridionalis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Betiscoides meridionalis, the slender restio grasshopper, is a species of lentulid grasshopper which is endemic to South Africa. It occurs only in the Western Cape where it is found in damp areas, in upland areas and on plateaux, vegetated with Restio species. This flightless grasshopper is threatened by droughts and wildfires which destroy its habitat. It is classified as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List.
It is a medium sized species, growing to a length of 36 mm (1.4 in), and its thin elongated body mimics the stems of the restios it is found among. Its smooth body is marked with three longitudinal stripes, one green, one grey, and the other brown. Adults are found from January to May. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Slender Restio Grasshopper sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 183rd most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Slender Restio Grasshopper in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in March–September and November–January, the lowest months. Those are among Cape Town's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in June.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Slender Restio Grasshopper sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Orthoptera
The closest relatives of the Slender Restio Grasshopper that you can see in Cape Town (order Orthoptera, Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Katydids) are Garden Locust (about 10%), Koppie Foam Grasshopper (about 10%) and Blue-Legged Sylvan Katydid (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Slender Restio Grasshopper is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (15 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
