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Broad-banded Grasshopper (Trimerotropis latifasciata)
Photo#821971
Copyright © 2013
David J. Ferguson
Trimerotropis latifasciata
-
8.4 ml. e. of San Simon, Cochise County, Arizona, USA
July 30, 2013
Hard to tell from
T. melenoptera
when wings band is this wide (especially before caught), but the distinctly curved shape of the band is helpful.
Images of this individual:
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Contributed by
David J. Ferguson
on 10 August, 2013 - 9:59pm
Last updated 19 October, 2013 - 11:39am
Blooper in my comment above.
In second paragraph:
"The same occurs in most
T. melanoptera
where the band may be totally absent."
Sould read:
"The same occurs in most
T. melanoptera
where the
SPUR
may be totally absent."
There are other minor bloopers too (words got dropped or moved in editing), but not changing the meaning so completely.
…
David J. Ferguson
, 11 September, 2015 - 4:28pm
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Definitely T. melanoptera as
Definitely T. melanoptera as the black band is too wide for T. latifasciata, and the orange on the body is largely unique to T. melanoptera.
…
Mathew L. Brust
, 9 September, 2015 - 9:36pm
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No, it is definitely T. latifasciata
If this was caught on the Plains, I'd have to do a double-take, and might wonder if it was a hybrid. However, west of the Rockies the wing band is typically wider, and the upper side of the body is often quite reddish (though the sternum rarely shows so much red as this one, except south from the Mogollon Rim - where it often does). This specimen is close to "typical"
T. latifasciata
from the Great Basin and Colorado Plateaus. Specimens from Californa, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho are all quite similar (not so orange ventrally). Though the orange decreases on average and the wing band narrows on average as you move northward, they don't look all that different even in Idaho. In southwestern Wyoming they blend into the "
laticincta
" type you knoww from further east. The ones in the Bighorn Basin and most of Montana are also like the ones on the Plains.
Compared to
T. melanoptera
, the dark hind wing band curves around the outer margin, instead of being nearly straight on the inside margin. The spur of the wing band is often mentioned as a distinction, it is perhaps a tad longer in
T. latifasciata
. However, since the band is so wide in this one, the spur is swallowed up by the width and appears to be nearly absent. The same occurs in most
T. melanoptera
where the band may be totally absent. However, in narrower banded specimens, the spur is present in both species.
T. melanoptera
has the inner hind femur mostly black, with only a subapical pale (usually reddish) cross band (occasionally the black fades to a deep reddish toward the base of the femur). If the inner hind femur of
T. latifasciata
is dominated by black, it will all black on at most the basal half and crossed by two pale bands, and the tibial sulcus will usually mostly be pale. Usually the inner hind femur is dominated by the paler color (varies from yellowish to red), crossed by black bands, sometimes with are only black spots, or occasionally there is no black at all. While variable, the inner hind femur is never as in
T. melanoptera
.
The two species behave somewhat differently too, but the differences are subtle.
T. melanoptera
seems to have a more "hyper" irratic behavior, and when it flies it often turns sharply and bounces about (even when chased), while
T. latifasciata
tends to remain low and more direct in flight, and is less "hyper" on the ground as well. They sound nearly the same in flight, but because of the changes in course during flight, the "buzz" is often more interrupted, or at least more irregularly interrupted in
T. melanoptera
.
West from the Rockies there are no
T. melanoptera
, but the two occur together east of the Rockies. Luckily east of the Rockies they are easy to tell apart. The form of
T. latifasciata
on the Great Plains (=
T. [latifasciata] laticincta
) has a narrower hind wing dark band (on average) that is positioned slightly differently, and lacks the orange on the body (mostly, usually). However, across southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona (west from the Rio Grande and south of the Rockies & Mogollon Rim), and southward into Mexico, the western type of
T. latifasciata
and
T. melanoptera
can occur together. In that region, it's not unusual to catch a
T. latifasciata
that has a wider hind wing band than some of the
T. melanoptera
flying with it.
Oh,
T. melanoptera
is found at the location this was collected as well; they do not look the same.
…
David J. Ferguson
, 10 September, 2015 - 2:57pm
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The amount of variation in th
The amount of variation in this species is impressive. They even tend to match the local soil color at each site where found.
…
Mathew L. Brust
, 10 September, 2015 - 9:10pm
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