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Photo#1041476
Acrididae 4 - Melanoplus

Acrididae 4 - Melanoplus
Little Mountain, Southwestern experimental garden array site, Coconino County, Arizona, USA
July 7, 2014
Pit trapped in meadow in Ponderosa pine forest

Images of this individual: tag all
Acrididae 4 - Melanoplus Acrididae 4 - Melanoplus

Comming back to this one again
I think she's probably Melanoplus lakinus with longish wings.

Moved

female Melanoplus
The species identity is more difficult to determine in females. The small size and shortish wings make tink that she probably isn't M. sanguinipes (like the male), but she could be. The appearance fits M. femurrubrum moderately well too, but that species is generally a bit larger as well (although all species vary in size). Could be yet another species though. There are several fully winged species that look basically like this in that area, another is M. confusa, but it usually has blue hind tibiae (this one appears to have had red originally?). There may be a clue in the shape of the end of the ovipositor valves, but I'll need to compare with drawings to see if there is any help there. The details of the ovipositor aren't well recorded for every species though.

 
thanks again David!
I really appreciate your help. I'll try to get some ovipositor photos up. The M. sanguinipes was caught nearby (guessing 15 miles) but in a completely different habitat about 1000 feet lower in elevation. It'll be interesting to find out if this one is the same species or different

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