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Photo#1097837
Grasshopper 6 nymph patterned on Gaillardia pulchella - Melanoplus bowditchi

Grasshopper 6 nymph patterned on Gaillardia pulchella - Melanoplus bowditchi
14 miles S of Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado, USA
June 7, 2015
Size: ~ 12.5 - 16.5 mm
I don't know if this is the same nymph ss recently submitted # 1097828 or a different nymph. Coloration seems similar but patterns seem different. This nymph is on Gaillardia pulchella, also at Raven's Nest, SPLT, on the plains at ~ 4051' elevation. Any help at all with its ID is greatly appreciated.

looks like Melanoplus bowditchi
I'm guessing this was a Sand Sagebrush area? They are rarely found away from Composite shrubs, but a nice big Composite flower I suspect is candy.

Moved from Short-horned Grasshoppers.

 
Melanoplus bowditchi
Thanks for this ID. I checked the plant list for the Bent County prairie property where this nymph was seen. Composite shrubs included a Baccharis wrightii, an Artemisia bigelovii (Bigelov's sage, also called Flat Sage) and Dwarf Rabbitbrush. Rain was ample and the most common plants were this Indian Blanket Flower in large swaths across the fields and lots of Prickly Pears in bloom. Again, this also occurs in Boulder County so we will look for adults on the prairies. Your help is much appreciated.

 
Populations of this hopper can occur on all of those shrubs.
Sand Sagebrush seems to be the favorite in Eastern Colorado, and the millions of acres of the stuff can support huge populations of this grasshopper in sandhills country, but the other plants will all serve quite nicely as well. They will also sometimes use Snakeweed, Fringed Sage, various other Baccharis, Winterfat is recorded (not a Composite, so it's an exception to the rule of thumb), and probably several others. Sometimes they will temporarily switch to other plants, notably assorted herbaceous Composites (but they will pretty much always head back into the shrubs to take cover).

There is an interesting article by Mathew Brust about different phenotypes of this species occurring on different host plants in western Nebraska that you can look at here if you haven't read it yet.

 
Information about Melanoplus bowditchi
How very interesting that grasshoppers may vary depending on their diet. Thanks so much for referring me to the Matthew Brust article. I'm checking it out.

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