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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids (Orthoptera) » Grasshoppers (Caelifera) » Short-horned Grasshoppers (Acrididae) » Spur-throated Grasshoppers (Melanoplinae) » Melanoplini » Melanoplus » Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis)
Photo#246614
dead grasshoppers - Melanoplus differentialis - male
Copyright © 2008 Matthew Priebe

dead grasshoppers - Melanoplus differentialis - Male
Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County, Illinois, USA
August 19, 2008
Size: 1 1/2 inch
Contributed by Matthew Priebe on 28 December, 2008 - 11:38am
Last updated 25 October, 2009 - 6:51pm

Judging by the date, and their posture,
they probably did die from fungal infection, as referred to in this other from the same batch.
… David J. Ferguson, 25 October, 2009 - 6:52pm

 
Yes--
My comment was not meant to imply that this grasshopper isn't a fungus victim, but only to agree that the whitish structures look like smartweed flowers, not related to the fungus.
… Charley Eiseman, 25 October, 2009 - 9:24pm

Right.
They are flowers, and almost certainly smartweeds, genus Persicaria (aka Polygonum).
… Skip Blanchard, 28 December, 2008 - 12:44pm

 
Agreed
I hadn't looked closely at this image before, but that makes sense--from what I've seen, the fungus that attacks grasshoppers isn't externally conspicuous as the ones on flies etc. are.
… Charley Eiseman, 29 December, 2008 - 11:52am

This doesn't look like fungus
but rather flower parts with calyx and petals, etc.
… john and jane balaban, 28 December, 2008 - 12:12pm

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