chapolin (Mdz32r)

The level of detail on this grasshopper suggests that the artist had great familiarity with the insect and probably studied it very closely. The patterns on the femurs and lower abdomen (spiracles) are very much like those captured in this photo. An immediately recognizable, bent leg, which allows the grasshopper to hop, appears by itself as a signature glyph for Chapulicxitlan (representing chapolin, grasshopper, and icxitl, foot) on folio 8 recto of the Codex Mendoza. Detailed, concrete knowledge of this insect may be owing to the fact that the chapulines (as they are called in Mexican Spanish) were (and still are) consumed as food. They come in many sizes. They can be eaten in tacos or mixed with other ingredients. Chile and salt are often added. Because they have long been collected, sold in the marketplace, and consumed, artists have been very familiar with them and able to study them close up.