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I just discovered a huge (6-8 cm, ~3 inches) insect in our potted Astilbe plant. As far as I can tell it's a grasshopper but I don't know which kind exactly. From what I can find in the Dutch species register, it looks the most like a Tettigonia viridissima, but the section on identifying those says they are 30-35mm long, the one I found is definitely double that size, since it was as long (a bit longer even) than my thumb when stretched out.

Most grasshopper species I know (and have seen) in The Netherlands are smaller, which makes me suspect I may be dealing with an invasive species, and I might be better off killing it now, because it looks like it was laying eggs. Before just killing it though, I'd like to make sure I haven't missed anything, and I would appreciate some help in identifying this insect. Below is the best picture I have of it, which is most true to it's actual color and shows the entire insect. I took a few other shots as well: a close-up of the head, a close-up of it's backside showing differently colored stripes, and a picture from the side, which I suspect shows it's laying eggs?.

Can anyone identify this species for me, and if this is an invasive species?

Image of suspected grasshopper

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  • I wonder if this may get better answers on Gardening & Landscaping.
    – gerrit
    Commented Aug 6, 2021 at 12:56
  • @gerrit I'd be more than happy to move sites if needed, I had a tough time picking a specific site... Besides Gardening & Landscaping it seems there are also questions on Biology about identifying insects... So I went with this one since it's the only one that seems to have a bug-identification tag :D
    – Tinkeringbell
    Commented Aug 6, 2021 at 13:06

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Long-horned grasshopper or Great green bush-cricket(Tettigonia viridissima)

https://www.britannica.com/topic/long-horned-grasshopper-2096594
The image on this page looks almost identical to yours, and it is a female if I read the page correctly so it could well be laying eggs. They're native everywhere but Antarctica, though most common in the tropics.

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  • Yeah, it really does look like a Tettigonia viridissima, but like I said in the question, the Dutch species register seems to rule that one out: their identification section says they're about 30-35mm long, the one in this picture was a bit longer than my thumb, so it was probably between 60-80mm long. I don't see any measurements on the Britannica page though :|
    – Tinkeringbell
    Commented Aug 6, 2021 at 16:15
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    @Tinkeringbell if you follow through to the full article it says they can be over 6cm
    – Separatrix
    Commented Aug 6, 2021 at 17:09
  • I have a bit of trouble navigating, but you mean this page? That's about katydids, which still leaves ~6000 options for a distinct species, and as many options for size (range of 1 to over 6 cm)... I don't see any data specific measurement data there on Tettigonia viridissima as a species, sadly :( Am I looking at the wrong page?
    – Tinkeringbell
    Commented Aug 6, 2021 at 17:24

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