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Species Dissosteira carolina - Carolina Grasshopper

ID? - Dissosteira carolina carolina grasshopper - Dissosteira carolina - female Carolina Grasshopper - Dissosteira carolina - female A Carolina Locust for SC - Dissosteira carolina - male Mating Carolina Grasshoppers Close-up - Dissosteira carolina - male - female Carolina Grasshopper - Dissosteira carolina - female Carolina Grasshopper - Dissosteira carolina - male Band-winged grasshopper - Dissosteira carolina
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)
Suborder Caelifera (Grasshoppers)
Family Acrididae (Short-horned Grasshoppers)
Subfamily Oedipodinae (Band-winged Grasshoppers)
Tribe Sphingonotini
Genus Dissosteira
Species carolina (Carolina Grasshopper)
Other Common Names
Road Duster
Black-winged Grasshopper
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Gryllus (Locusta) carolinus Linneaus, 1758, described from Charleston, South Carolina
Acridium carolinum (Linneaus) De Geer, 1773
Locusta carolina (Linneaus) T.W. Harris, 1835
Dissosteira carolina (Linnaeus) S.H. Scudder, 1876
Acridium (Oedipoda) carolinum (Linneaus) S.H. Scudder, 1901
Size
32-58 mm
Identification
Color variable: yellowish gray to brown. Sharp ridge on pronotum with one cut. Hind wings black except for yellow along rear margin--distinctive in much of North America, apparently. Hind tibiae yellow. "A strong flier, often seen hovering or in a zig-zag, fluttering flight of courtship." (1) Appears butterfly-like in flight. Males (mostly) crepitate in flight and stridulate (sing).
Range
Most of 48 United States except southern Florida, southern Louisiana, southern Texas, southwest Arizona, and bottom 2/3rds of California. (1)
Habitat
Found often along roadsides, nearly bare ground.
Season
Mid-summer to fall. May-November (mid-latitudes). Late June-October (Michigan). June-frost (North Carolina).
Food
Grasses, forbs, horsetails (Equisetum).
See Also
Spharagemon
Print References
Capinera, pp. 88-89, plate 13. (1)
Capinera, pp. 65-66, plates 42, 43 (2)
Helfer, p. 115, fig. 191 (3)
Bland, p. 110 (4)
Salsbury, p. 62 (5)
Brimley, p. 24 (6)
Works Cited
1.Field Guide To Grasshoppers, Katydids, And Crickets Of The United States
By John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker
2.Grasshoppers of Florida (Invertebrates of Florida)
By John L. Capinera, Clay W. Scherer, Jason M. Squiter, Jason M. Squitier
3.How to Know the Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Their Allies
By Jacques R. Helfer
4.Orthoptera of Michigan
By Roger Bland
5.Insects in Kansas
By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White
6.Insects of North Carolina
By C.S. Brimley