Spirit Guide of the day is Grasshopper! The grasshopper guide is known for it's connection with unexpected leaps forward. When this totem shows it means a time to get a move on! Others may be scared to go where the grasshopper urges you to go, but do not be afraid! This leap of faith inspired by the grasshopper will lead you past whatever is holding you back. Take the chance and leap! This may mean leaving your comfort zone. However, the grasshopper reminds us to remember our personal strength to get those achievements ahead. In China grasshoppers as well as crickets were signs of good luck, abundance, and virtue. They were a sign of nobility according to the ancient Greeks. Often found in warm sunbeams, the grasshopper reminds us to hold joy and light within us as we wait for our instincts to tell us when to take that leap. Others may seem to be progressing faster, but the grasshopper guide lives at it's own pace and should not worry about comparing to others. It is very important to trust your inner self. People who connect with Grasshopper are highly adaptable with the ability to shine no matter where they are or what they are doing. These individuals are brave, reliable, and able to blend in easily when necessary. Although, they can sometimes loose themselves in daydreams, these types can nearly always be trusted to make the right decisions.

Grasshopper, Caelifera, are herbivorous insects that live for approximately one year. They can be found throughout the entire world with the exception of colder regions near the North and South poles. They prefer to live in environments such as meadows or fields, but will live anywhere that provides plenty of food to eat. Adult grasshoppers can grow between 1 and 7 centimeters depending on the species. There are approximately 18,000 different species of grasshopper. They can be distinguished from their relatives the Katydid and crickets by their shorter antennae. There are two main groups of grasshopper: The long-horned and short-horned grasshoppers. These two groups are sorted by the length of antennae. Similar to their relatives, Grasshoppers possess two pairs of wings consisting of a narrow, tough pair and a wider, more flexible pair as well as a pair of long, powerful hind legs. These legs work as a catapult to leap over 20 times it's own body length. They have also been known to fly at a speed up to 8 mphs. The back legs are also able to 'sing' using stridulation, or creating sound by rubbing two body parts together. This singing is more subdued during adverse conditions, but will rise high and loud during preferred conditions. While females can sing, it is the males that are louder. These songs are a form of communication mostly used to find mates. Due to their ability to jump so far, this singing enables them to communicate over those distances in order to find one another. The diet of a grasshopper includes leaves, crops, and grasses. They can be dangerous to crop levels due to their ability to eat up to 16 times it's own weight. While they may feed at night, grasshoppers are most active during the day. They are not known to hold territories or create nests. They are normally solitary insects who mainly only collect in order to breed. Some species, however, are known to migrate and these species will gather in enormous groups of millions. Since many other animals feed on grasshoppers, they have a few different techniques to avoid capture. Hiding in tall grasses or leaping away are two of them, however, grasshoppers also possess the ability to exude a brown liquid called tobacco juice which is believed to protect them by being a distraction sprayed onto predators before leaping away to safety. In order to keep aware, grasshoppers have a number of sensory organs that help them to stay alert. Large compound eyes enable a wide field of vision. They also possess three simple eyes on the forehead called Ocelli which are used to detect light intensity. At the front of the abdomen, a pair of tympanal organs are used for sensing sound. Their antennae are used both for touch as well as being able to smell through olfactory receptors located on them. Female grasshoppers are often larger than males. After breeding, these females will dig a hole near plants perfect for food and lays her eggs in a pod within the ground which is covered with soil. There are semi-aquatic species that are known to deposit this egg pod directly into plant tissue. The eggs are laid just before winter and will develop for a few weeks before going into a phase called Diapause where they lay dormant throughout the winter. The young will hatch as nymphs when the ground raises above a warm enough temperature. These nymphs will go through six stages of incomplete metamorphosis where they become larger and more like their adult stage with each moulting. After the final moult, their wings become fully functional.