Another Unidentified Grasshopper - Arphia xanthoptera

Autumn yellow-winged grasshopper

This is definitely Arphia xanthoptera, the "autumn yellow-winged grasshopper." The crested pronotum (dorsal part of the thorax) is very distinctive.

… Eric R. Eaton, 5 November, 2004 - 11:10am

Eric, Thanks for th

Eric,

Thanks for the ID. I searched google for it to see some other photos and found a page on bandwinged grasshoppers. There I found another species that might match the first grasshopper: Sparagemon crepitans (Saussure)Crepitating grasshopper. Take a look and let me know what you think.

… Francis Michael Stiteler, 5 November, 2004 - 1:46pm

I still say Arphia xanthoptera

Actually,it looks like the only other species it could be confused with is Spharagemon cristatum, but Spharagemon tend to be less compact than Arphia, and fly earlier in the season. I'll agree it is an unusual pattern of mottling in your specimen, but I still think it is Arphia.

… Eric R. Eaton, 5 November, 2004 - 4:38pm

Eric, I am not sure t

Eric,

I am not sure that I was clear in my last post. I originally posted two photos of what I thought were two different species of
Grasshoppers. I agree with what you suggested for the one you first responded to. However I was suggesting that the second photo might be of Spharagemon cristatum. If you can, check out the second photo. I'll be a bit surprised if they are both the same species however maybe they are male and female. Actually in the second photo the bug seems to be missing it's hind leg.

… Francis Michael Stiteler, 5 November, 2004 - 5:46pm

I don't know the ID, but some general comments

A few months ago I was looking for a grasshopper guide, and at Amazon I found that a new field guide will be published in about two weeks. You might check there under keyword Grasshoppers.

Of course the BugGuide itself is pretty good. You might click on the Grasshopper picture on the homepage, then choose the Browse tab to see what the different families look like.

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

… Stephen Cresswell, 5 November, 2004 - 8:36am