Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#1888212
Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis) - Trimerotropis pallidipennis - female

Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis) - Trimerotropis pallidipennis - Female
Palmer Lake / Sundance Mountain, El Paso County, Colorado, USA
September 5, 2020
Size: 3.5 cm
Approx 8200' elevation, a little high for this species if it is confirmed T.pallidipennis. Wind approx 2-3mph, temp 84F.

Images of this individual: tag all
Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis) - Trimerotropis pallidipennis - female Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis) - Trimerotropis pallidipennis - female

Moved
Pretty sure T. pallidipennis is correct. The only other one in the region that looks the same is T. latifasciata, and the likelihood of that flying up high into the mountains is pretty much nill. Also, it is pretty rare in the region now (likes indisturbed alkali and silty flats on the plains best, and basically never gets up into the mountains).

It doesn't seem to be mentioned often in literature, but T. pallidipennis is migratory and moves around constantly. Adults can be long-lived (for perhaps up to a year as well), and they can produce multiple broods in a year (unusual among Trimerotropis). It can fly hundreds of miles north out of the southern deserts into Colorado, Utah, and even Idaho and Wyoming with warm southerly winds, sometimes even during the winter (though winter is rare). It commonly flies to lights in swarms in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico (and sometimes elsewhere), particularly in late winter and spring (depending some on where you are). I have found it flying around at the top of the San Juan Mountains on snowbanks above timberline on warm days in April and May, not just one or two, but sometimes a lot of them, and for sure these didn't breed and mature up there.

Moved from Trimerotropis.

Moved

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.