Whilst in Wadi Grosbeak near to Bani Saad in the Taif area recently I saw a number of small well camouflaged grasshoppers that could have been a type of Band-winged Grasshopper Sphingonotus savignyi classified under the family Acrididae. They are sometimes elevated to full family status as Oedipodidaeand inhabit primarily weedy fields containing little water. These species are colourful, usually with hindwings that are yellow or red and edged with black. Others have black hindwings with pale edges. This particular grasshopper was quite small and coloured to match the rock/soil type it was present amongst. I have seen these grasshoppers from just north of Abha through the area where I photographed the grasshopper below to Wadi Thee Ghazal north of Taif.
