Sigaus childi
| Sigaus childi | |
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| Female | |
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| Male | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Family: | Acrididae |
| Genus: | Sigaus |
| Species: | S. childi |
| Binomial name | |
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Sigaus childi Jamieson, 1999 |
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| Distribution of S. childi | |
Sigaus childi is an endangered protected species of grasshopper known only from the Alexandra district of the South Island of New Zealand. It is one of just two species of grasshopper listed for protection under the New Zealand Wildlife Act 1953 (the other is Brachaspis robustus). The genus Sigaus is endemic to New Zealand.
Sigaus childi was described by Colleen Jamieson in 1999, from a male specimen collected on 15 December 1997 at Galloway Station, Otago (45°12′35″S 169°29′26″E / 45.209820°S 169.490626°E). The holotype and paratype are deposited in the Otago Museum, Dunedin. The species was named after the late of Alexandra, who first collected it from Graveyard Gully in 1967.
Sigaus childi is morphologically cryptic and polymorphic in colour, ranging from pale grey through earthy tones to green and black. Some individuals closely match foliose lichens that grow in rocks in the area, but others more closely resemble gravels or pebbles. They rely on camouflage rather than hopping to evade predators, and their hops are short: 30–40 cm and 15 cm high.
The wings on S. childi are very small – between 1–2 millimetres (0.039–0.079 in); like most New Zealand grasshoppers, this species is flightless. Males are 11–13 millimetres (0.43–0.51 in) long; females are twice as large, 21–25 millimetres (0.83–0.98 in). They have no ears, and do not sing.
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