Differential Grasshopper - Melanoplus differentialis - Female

Differential Grasshopper - Melanoplus differentialis - Female

(Photo:  Marvin Smith on 10/8/09)

IDENTIFICATION: General color is yellow to yellowish-brown with contrasting black markings ... wings are colorless ... black herringbone markings on outer face of hind femora ... hind tibiae are yellow with black spines and a narrow black ring near the knee ... average length for males is around 1 1/4" ... females are larger, averaging around 1 3/4".

RANGE: One of the more common grasshoppers. Can be found throughout most of the U. S.

FOOD: A mixed feeder that prefers grasses, especially lush vegetation in moist crop area (i. e. corn, clover, alfalfa and various garden crops). Although M. differentialis can be a serious pest in cultivated crops, it's usually not a problem in grasslands.

SEASON: Adults are common in the latter part of July. They deposit eggs from mid-August to October, and the eggs overwinter.

OVIPOSITON: Eggs are [normally] deposited in raised plant crowns of somewhat isolated clumps of sod. Common oviposition sites are compact roads, deserted fields, edges of weed patches and well-grazed areas near weedy ravines. Why the female pictured above chose to oviposit in a nail hole on our porch steps, I do not know. It was not a good choice.

Sources and links:
BugGuide Species Page
Grasshoppers of Colorado

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Differential Grasshopper - Melanoplus differentialis - Female

Obscure Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca obscura)

Obscure Bird Grasshoppers like the female pictured above are common and widespread in the southern United States. They are also sometimes commonly known as Bird Locust. An Old World species in this genus, Schistocerca gregaria, is noted for its swarming and migratory behavior. It is the locust of biblical plagues. Fortunately, New World species are much less prone to swarming.

Please see BugGuide for more information, links and detailed identification information: Schistocerca obscura, Genus Schistocerca, Subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae.

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Obscure Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca obscura)

Fungus Kills Grasshoppers

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Late June and early July of 2007 were warm (typical) and wet (atypical).  One result of these warm and moist conditions was a fungi population boom.   I don't know if I've ever seen so many mushrooms on the forest floor and alongside the road.  Another result was a lot of dead grasshoppers.  As it turned out, a fungus was also responsible for killing the grasshoppers.

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As I understand it, the grasshopper killing fungal spores are always present, but under the right warm and moist conditions, they too experience a population boom and corresponding increase in the rate of grasshopper mortality.  I've noticed maybe a half dozen grasshoppers in the typical fungal death pose this past summer.  In 2007, I'd see four or five per day.

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An interesting aspect of the grasshopper fungus is that as it multiplies within the hopper's body, the fungal infection causes the grasshopper to climb as far as it can get toward the top of a plant stem or stalk where it holds on tenaciously even after death.  Fungal spores are released as the dead grasshopper's body decomposes.  Being high on a stem or stalks helps the wind borne spores spread over a wider area.

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More information on one species of grasshopper and fungus.

Fungus Kills Grasshoppers

Robber Fly

Robber Fly (Triorla interrupta)

Triorla interrupta is one of the more common species of robber flies around here. This female has taken down a grasshopper that's too large for her to fly with, but she isn't about to abandon a juicy meal just because some fool with a camera is taking her picture. Grasshoppers seem to be T. interrupta's preferred food when its in open, grassy areas where hoppers abound, but this species is aggressive and will take on just about anything smaller than a bird. Herschel Raney has some shots of T. interrupta feasting on everything from dragonflies to a large horsefly. That's not too shabby for a robber fly that's slightly built and only about 7/8" long.

Robber Fly