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Photo#1710249
Melanoplus indicifer - male

Melanoplus indicifer - Male
Malabar Scrub Sanctuary, Brevard County, Florida, USA
August 9, 2019
A very exciting find for me and a relief to see that this species is still maintaining a grip on existence. M. indicifer is restricted to Atlantic Coastal Ridge scrub habitat, and the historical range extends along the southeast coast of Florida, north of West Palm Beach. This is of course a very heavily developed area, with very little scrub habitat preserved. Deyrup (1996) found the species on only 3 vacant lots and speculated that it might soon become extinct. When I mentioned this to Hojun Song this summer, he told me that it had been collected in 2014 at Malabar Scrub - and that it was not rare there. So I made a trip to the site and sure enough there were numerous adults hopping about between the low scrubby oaks in classic scrub habitat.

It seems likely that M. indicifer also occurs in some of the other small scrub preserves in this area - but even if so, this grasshopper certainly lives in a much-restricted range nowadays.

Images of this individual: tag all
Melanoplus indicifer - male Melanoplus indicifer - male Melanoplus indicifer - male Melanoplus indicifer - male

Great find!
Great find!

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