Montana Field Guide

The following is taken from Hebard (1928), Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), Pfadt (2002), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). The general body color is tan or gray, the side of the face is often lighter below the eyes. The tegmina (forewing) has two distinct dark bands across its entire width, with dark spotting at the apex. The median carina (ridge) of the pronotum (thorax) has two sulci (grooves) with lobes anteriorly and low but distinct posteriorly. The hindwing disk varies from whitish to pale yellow with a thin black band, extending along the posterior border, and a thick spur extending about half-way to the base. The apex is translucent. The inner face of the hind femur is pale yellow, with a black medial area, black ring, and knee. The hind tibia is yellow.

Communicative behavior/Crepitation*
Males perform crepitation flights consisting of a series of bursts, each composed of 3-6 snaps. Females do not crepitate. When flushed, they fly swiftly, about 2-3 feet above the ground, often flying up 100 feet to beyond sight. During courtship, males stridulate*, producing a trilling sound; produced by 2-14 strokes with a single femur. Femur-tipping and shaking are used during courtship and male-to-male aggression encounters, often accompanied by striking the ground with the hind tibia (Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, and Pfadt 2002).

*Crepitation is the sound produced by grasshoppers making a clicking or snapping noise with their wings when in flight, during courtship, territorial encounters or being disturbed.

*Stridulation is rubbing one body part against another, usually the hind femur against the forewing in the case of the Band-winged Grasshoppers. This is often used for attracting a female during courtship (Otte 1970).

The Pallid-winged Grasshopper overwinters in the egg stage. Nymphs begin appearing in late April. Adults generally occur from early June to October. This species is known to make dispersal and migratory flights to other areas and regions, some of them quite distant. It has been reported to occur mostly in June and July. Such flights can affect “phenological dates of occurrence,” for example populations further south attain adult status earlier than those in Montana, thus some early adult occurrences observed here may be dispersing migrants (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Otte 1984, and Pfadt 2002).

The following comes from Hebard (1928), Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971, Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), Pfadt (2002), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). The body length to tip of forewings is 25-35 mm for males, and 30-45 mm for females.

This species can be visually confused with several Montana Trimerotropis species having distinct forewing bands, especially Geyser Grasshopper (T. diversellus) (Scott 2010).

In Montana, the Pallid-winged Grasshopper inhabits dry areas with sparse vegetation, along roadsides, fields and almost any area with a preponderance of bare ground. It can even be found in weedy vacant city lots (Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, and Pfadt 2002).

This species is a mixed feeder and consumes a wide variety of grasses and forbs including Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), needle grama, Crested Wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum), milkvetch, salsify, big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, hoary aster. Plus, arthropod body parts, fungi, and pollen (Pfadt 2002).

Courting males stridulate as they move toward a receptive female which remains still as he approaches, mounts, attaches his genitalia and copulates. In one lab study, a single female laid 27 pods containing 955 eggs. The pods are laid in bare soil to a depth of about one inch. The pod is slightly curved, narrow, 1 inch long by 0.1 inch in diameter and contains an average of 34 pale yellow eggs <5mm long. Upon hatching, the nymphs pass through 5-6 instars (Pfadt 2002).