Grasshopper - Melanoplus yarrowii

Moved to M. yarrowii

from Melanoplus thomasi.

… David J. Ferguson, 28 August, 2008 - 6:17pm

… David J. Ferguson, 8 August, 2008 - 11:20pm

Moved

Moved from Melanoplus.

… Eric R. Eaton, 30 January, 2008 - 2:51pm

Moved

Moved from Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets.

… Eric R. Eaton, 14 March, 2007 - 5:29pm

Two-striped Grasshopper?

I'm going to play a hunch here and say that this is likely a male Two-striped hopper (Melanoplus bivittatus), mainly because I recall someone else from Arizona recently sending in a photo of a specimen that resembles yours. Have a look at the following... If your fellow had a similar stripy 'diamond' pattern on its 'back', then it's almost certainly a Two-striped.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/84176/bgimage

PS: According to a lot of info you'll find on this species, the Western variants of the Two-striped are 'supposed' to have blue or greenish lower hind legs. Guess the ones in Arizona just have to be different, eh? :)

… Heimchen, 24 January, 2007 - 7:53pm

Right genus....

I agree with the genus, but the image is not crisp enough to say more than "Melanoplus." Moving to genus page, but the submitter might consider "frassing" this one.

… Eric R. Eaton, 14 March, 2007 - 5:28pm

Melanoplus thomasi

Both photos are of Melanoplus thomasi. It is closely related to M. bivittatus, but found in s. AZ, s. NM, w. TX, and into n. Mexico. The Prescott area would be near the northern limit. I suspect it is a regional variant of M. bivittatus, but am not certain of this. The literature treats it as a distinct species. I have never yet seen the two species together, and have not seen intermediates. M. bivittatus in AZ and NM are generally brown to yellowish (I've never seen a green one here), and they only have red tibiae rarely high in the mountains, and as far as I know only in the northern parts of the states; usually the hind tibiae here are yellow to black or deep purplish.

… David J. Ferguson, 7 January, 2008 - 12:29am

Thanks David J Ferguson

You have a nice bunch of Hopper images; few of which i've seen before. I'll keep an eye open for some of these. We had quite a year for numbers of Grasshoppers here & lots of damage to gardens in this area this past Fall.

… Robert L. Pearson, 8 January, 2008 - 12:15am

by the way

thanks for the compliment

… David J. Ferguson, 8 August, 2008 - 11:19pm

mmm

I'm enjoying your hopper photos. After seeing your other photos, I'm going to back pedal a bit on this one. It might be M. yarrowii. The way the sun is hitting it makes it difficult to be certain, but it looks like it may be the same as the other similar ones you posted. I you can get a shot of a male with the cerci clearly shown, that would help greatly to be absolutely certain. Dave

… David J. Ferguson, 22 February, 2008 - 1:51am

Cerci it will be....on the next "Shot"

Tailend details are more important than the headend details on Grasshopper ID. Thanks for your patience & continued assistance.

… Robert L. Pearson, 22 February, 2008 - 2:23pm

M. yarrowii

Judging by your other shots, my back pedalling is complete. I'm going to say M. yarrowii. The markings match your other shots from Skull Valley. These are the most strikingly colored M. yarrowii I've ever seen.

… David J. Ferguson, 31 March, 2008 - 5:46pm