Species Aeoloplides turnbulli - Thistle Grasshopper

Russian Thistle Grasshopper, Saltbush Grasshopper

The name "Thistle Grasshopper" is derived from the plant "Russian Thistle", which isn't really a thistle at all.

Rockies and Great Plains from southern Canada to New Mexico and Texas

Originally mostly dry deserty areas with Atriplex, especially A. canescens, but now widespread in vacant lots, roadsides and other disturbed areas where weedy Chenopods grow.

adults in summer and autumn.

A variety of Chenopodiaceae, favoring Atriplex species, but also using Salsola and Kochia (Bassia), which have expanded the range of this grasshopper eastward on the Great Plains well beyond it's original distribution. Generally considered somewhat beneficial for it's love of tumbleweeds, but also will invade Beet and Spinach fields and sometimes become a pest.

Overwinters as eggs.