Grasshopper - Genus? - Schistocerca

Moved

Moved from Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets.

… Eric R. Eaton, 9 October, 2007 - 3:13pm

Bird Grasshopper?

Is this a really big grasshopper, a two-inch plus hopper? If so, I'd guess it's a brand new female adult Schistocerca or bird grasshopper, and from the markings already apparant, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she darkened up to be a nice specimen of Schistocerca obscura, the obscure bird grasshopper.

Some nice pics to compare with below. (Your specimen will look a good deal more 'compact' once she's finished drying and hardening as she's got her abdomen and head really stretched out here...not too often you get to see a grasshopper's 'neck' exposed like this!):
http://www.opsu.edu/UnivSchools/ScienceMathNurs/PlantsGrassh/grasshoppers/files/s_obscura.html

… Heimchen, 23 September, 2007 - 7:06am

Schistocerca nitens

I missed this one till now. It is a great shot of expanding wings.

There are a couple of good clues here. You can see the beginings of the dark spot in the middle and pale bar at the bottom of the side of the pronotum, and you can see the subgenital plate and cerci (the subgenital plate is very elongate and slender in this species). I think the antennae are shorter on S. nitens too, but I've never actually measured. Here are some shots at the same web site:
http://www.opsu.edu/UnivSchools/ScienceMathNurs/PlantsGrassh/grasshoppers/files/s_nitens.html

… David J. Ferguson, 8 February, 2008 - 11:39am