Montana Field Guide

The following was taken from Hebard (1928), Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971), Otte (1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), Capinera et al. (2004), and Scott (2010). This is a medium to large pale green grasshopper. The pointed head, red antennae, and high semicircular crest on the top of the posterior two-thirds of the pronotum (thorax) are distinctive characters. The hind wing has a pale-yellow disc and a broad black band. The apical third of the wing is clear.

Nymphs appear in March or April. Adults occur from June through August or early September (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Capinera et al. 2004, Otte 1981, Scott 2010, and Vickery and Kevan 1985).

The following comes from Hebard (1928), Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971), Otte (1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), Capinera et al. (2004), and Scott (2010). The body length to the end of the wings is 25 to 42 mm in males and 32 to 51 mm in females. The legs are covered with fine hairs. The hind tibia is green.

This species could be confused for a band-winged grasshopper, family Oedipodinae. The banded hind wing is unusual among the slant-faced grasshoppers and suggests that it may be some form of behavioral flight signal for mating (Otte 1981).

The Green Fool Grasshopper prefers rolling short-grass prairies with sparse vegetation, especially sandy areas (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Capinera et al. 2004, and Otte 1981).

This species is unusual as being the only prairie slant-faced species that is a forb-feeder, preferring broadleaf species in the Borage family such as gromwell, stickseed, and cryptantha (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Capinera et al. 2004, Otte 1981, and Vickery and Kevan 1985).

The following is taken from Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Otte (1981), and Vickery and Kevan (1985). Males have been observed to stridulate (rubbing body parts together to produce sound) when courting females and in pair formation. The song consists of a series of “ticking” pulses which varies from twelve to eighteen. Females lay eggs just below the soil surface, which average about 6 eggs per pod in two columns of three. When nymphs hatch, they pass through 5 instars to adult stage. It has been suggested that eggs hatch in the fall and the nymphs are in the overwintering stage.