Family Meadow Grasshopper?

[Dillybythesea]

These three seemed to be together, with the short-winged one (shown twice) seeming to keep an eye on the little one trailing behind. Or is there never any parenting and I just imagined it - and/or are they not even related?!

[GuyF]

It's possible that these grasshoppers are related, but it would be as siblings. Their mother would've laid her eggs last summer and then died, with these hoppers hatching out this spring. The first is a mature male and the second is a female, so that could possibly explain his interest in her, however the female is still a nymph so wouldn't be able to breed yet. The third is still a fairly small nymph, so for the moment is probably focused on feeding up to grow to maturity! I'm not sure what the behaviour you were observing was though, I haven't heard of any kind of care in grasshoppers but who knows?
Guy

[Dillybythesea]

Thanks for the info Guy! I hadn't realised they're another example where the mother lays her eggs and dies. So it sounds as though they might all have been reacting to me sitting down then, and seeming to watch each other to decide if I were a threat or not. ATB - Rhona