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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 » Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) » Melanoplus bivittatus bivittatus
Photo#447433
Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus)? - Melanoplus bivittatus - female
Copyright © 2010 Carl Barrentine

Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus)? - Melanoplus bivittatus - Female
Fisher, Polk County, Minnesota, USA
August 25, 2010
Size: Length ~ 3 cm
Hmmm...my first thought was that this specimen might be a Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus), but I'm troubled by the blue color (rather than red color) of the tibiae. Perhaps it's not M. bivittatus? But if not, then I wonder which grasshopper species might this belong to? I'd appreciate any and all help! ;-) Thank you!
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Contributed by Carl Barrentine on 26 August, 2010 - 8:14pm
Last updated 15 September, 2013 - 11:10am

Moved
Moved from Two-Striped Grasshopper.
… David J. Ferguson, 15 September, 2013 - 11:10am login or register to post comments

Blue is not a problem; it is indeed a Two-stripe
Red tibiae are the norm in moist, often cooler regions, and dominate in the Northeast and Appalachians, as well as north of the prairies in Canada and in the Pacific Northwest on down into northern California. The ones near the Atlantic Coast below Virginia mostly look more like the ones from the Great Plains, yet they also usually have the red hind tibiae. Elsewhere red is rare to extremely rare, and colors like black, brown, yellowish, greenish, blue, and even purple are more common.

Places like Minnesota, Manitoba, Wisconsin, Illinois, and British Columbia can have a wide range of tibia colors within the same populations. There are other regional differences in pattern and coloring as well, but they never seem to draw as much attention.

If I found a red one here in New Mexico, it would be such a rarity that it would be almost shocking to see (I never have so far, but maybe there are some up in the mountains somewhere).

Yours is missing part of the left front wing, which adds a bit of a different "look" to her as well.

Moved from Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids.
… David J. Ferguson, 2 September, 2010 - 3:09pm login or register to post comments

 
Fascinating!
David, Thank you so much for making me aware of variation in tibia coloration in this species. My very generalized reference works don't mention that important fact, and so I'm very intrigued to learn more about what proportions of this species, in this area, have red and blue (or other-colored) tibiae! Time to drag out the net and collect grasshoppers! Thanks for making me more curious about this common species! ;-)
… Carl Barrentine, 2 September, 2010 - 4:40pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Carl Barrentine, 28 August, 2010 - 9:27am login or register to post comments

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