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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids (Orthoptera) » Grasshoppers (Caelifera) » Short-horned Grasshoppers (Acrididae) » Slant-faced Grasshoppers (Gomphocerinae) » Amblytropidia Group » Eritettix » Velvet-striped Grasshopper (Eritettix simplex)
Photo#1088813
- Eritettix simplex - female
Copyright © 2015 Richard Bunn

- Eritettix simplex - Female
Pike National Forest, north of Woodland Park (39.048038° -105.082876°), Teller County, Colorado, USA
June 21, 2015
meadow in open Ponderosa Pine forest, Pike National Forest
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Contributed by Richard Bunn on 22 June, 2015 - 6:21pm
Last updated 18 March, 2016 - 7:43pm

Eritettix simplex
Opeia is very similar and probably closely related, but the markings on top of the pronotum will not be "pinched" in the middle, while they [usually] are in Eritettix.

In Colorado Eritettix overwinters as nymphs and adults are common in spring, while Opeia hatch in spring and mature in summer (usually not before late June even on the Plains). There is a color variant that has wide dark stripes (green, brown, or nearly black) along the top of the sides of the head and thorax (running back from the eyes), and these individuals can lack the pinched pattern on top (the stripes are parallel and the top can be almost even colored), and these can be very difficult to tell from Opeia with the same pattern. The season found, and slightly different antennae can help identify those particular insects.

Moved from Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids.
… David J. Ferguson, 30 June, 2015 - 3:33pm login or register to post comments

Moved for expert attention
I think these are both females Opeia obscura, but I'm not sure. Syrbula is a more elongate, slender animal.

Moved from ID Request.
… metrioptera, 22 June, 2015 - 8:38pm login or register to post comments

 
Opeia obscura
Thanks for your input Brandon. I've been thinking about proportionate comparisons in grasshoppers and most of what I have read has been here on BugGuide. Easy for birds, less so for grasshoppers. Steep learning curve.
… Richard Bunn, 22 June, 2015 - 10:53pm login or register to post comments

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