Scudder's Short-winged Grasshopper - Melanoplus scudderi

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Copyright © 2005 Cotinis

Scudder's Short-winged Grasshopper - Melanoplus scudderi -

Power line right-of-way, Duke Forest, west of NC 751, Durham County, North Carolina, USA
October 1, 2004
Size: 18 mm (M) , 24 mm (F)

A view from the other side, showing the rather contorted mating posture. Capinera, Field Guide to Grasshoppers (1) has a similar photo of mating Melanoplus differentialis, figure 15:
Note that the male has his abdomen twisted below the female's abdomen. This is a remnant of mating behavior found in ancestral species, wherein the female mounts the male.
Image updated 9/1/20.

Interesting, in most crickets and katydids, the female mounts the male for mating, shown in figure 16 of Capinera. (1)

Images of this individual: tag all

Scudder's Short-winged Grasshopper - Melanoplus scudderi - male - female

Contributed by Cotinis on 10 October, 2005 - 4:30am
Last updated 1 September, 2020 - 5:20pm

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