Record-breaking athletes envy the average grasshopper. It can jump distances 15 to 20 times its own length — from a standing start! But then, the hopper is built for the job. Its two back legs are especially long and powerful. Thick, heavy-duty muscles swell the upper half of both these legs, which store energy and release it fast. In fact, a hopper’s back legs are so specialized for jumping that they’re clumsy for walking.

When a grasshopper gets ready to hop, its four smaller legs push up the front part of its body. Its back legs flex, then extend suddenly, firing the hopper into the air. By leaping from spot to spot, it can travel up to 10 times faster than most other insects can by running.

Many of the more than 5,000 species of grasshoppers in the world can fly as well as jump. Beneath their narrow, thick front wings lies a pair of wide, filmy back wings. When the hoppers fly, they hold the front wings up and beat their back ones. But they travel more often by foot than by flight.

Some grasshopper species — usually just the males — use their wings to create “music” that attracts mates and tells other males to get lost. Depending on the species, they might scrape tiny pegs on their back legs against the edge of their front wings or rub these wings against each other. In flight, some species hit their hind legs with their wings to make noise. Others snap their wings together.

To hear all this music, some grasshopper species have eardrums that sit just below their wings on either side of their bodies. Others have eardrums in their front legs. Listening helps a female tell whether or not the musician is a likely mate. That’s because each species makes its own special song.