Mischievous Bird Grasshopper - Schistocerca damnifica

A frustrating genus

The size given is a bit small for S. rubiginosa, and it also resembles S. damnifica more to my eyes. The two can be frustratingly similar without looking at male cerci, subgenital plate, etc., but bse0d on the rather large head with the face sloping back rather strongly, thick antennae, the entirely pale top of the tegmina (front wings), arched thorax, etc., I'd say it is S. damnifica.

The books all say that antennae in S. damnifica are shorter than the head and pronotum together, but nearly all the photos I've seen show the antennae about the same or slightly longer (including the photos in the publications that say they are shorter!). The antennae are slightly longer on this boy. In S. rubiginosa, they are proportionately noticeably longer than this, and I think are also more slender.

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oops, this was supposed to be a correction/edit, not a new comment. I'll blame it on the computer :-)

… David J. Ferguson, 28 December, 2008 - 1:16am

Thank you both!

If I am interpreting this correctly, even though the antennae are slightly longer than the head this is a male Mischievous Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca damnifica) - correct?

… Ted Kropiewnicki, 28 December, 2008 - 7:52pm

… David J. Ferguson, 28 December, 2008 - 12:43am

No.

This is probably the "rusty bird grasshopper," Schistocerca rubiginosa. Nice shot, albeit he is missing a hind leg....

… Eric R. Eaton, 27 December, 2008 - 8:58pm