Montana Field Guide

Taken from Brooks (1958), Vickery and Kevan (1985), Pfadt (2002), Capinera et.al. (2004), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), and Scott (2010). A small to medium-sized, dull-drab yellowish-brown grasshopper. The underside of the body is cream colored. A dark stripe on the side of the head and pronotal lobe is usually black and shiny.

Overwinters in the egg stage and one of the first grasshoppers to hatch in early spring (April). Hatching continues for a month and the nymphs pass through 5 instars, becoming adults in 40 to 46 days. Adults start to appear in early June and are present through July (Pfadt 2002, Capinera and Sechrist 1982).

The following is taken from Brooks (1958), Vickery and Kevan (1985), Pfadt (2002), Capinera et.al. (2004), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), and Scott (2010). Body length for males is 16 to 20 mm, females 19 to 27 mm. Wings (tegmina) are long, slender and uniformly colored. The males wings extend beyond the hind femur knee (apices), the females reaching the apices. Outer face of the hind femur often lacks any conspicuous banding, but the underside is orange or sometimes yellow. The hind tibia is greenish-blue, sometimes yellowish or reddish at the tip.

Any number of Melanoplus species can be confused with this species without collecting male specimens for genitalia comparisons to make positive identifications.

Inhabits prairie grasslands in the West and meadows and pastures in the East, as well as roadsides, cultivated field borders and open grass areas in woodlands. Prefers areas with sandy to gravelly soils (Pfadt 2002, and Capinera and Sechrist 1982).

The following is taken from Pfadt (2002), and Capinera and Sechrist (1982). The Pasture Grasshopper is polyphagous but seems to prefer forbs over grasses. Some studies have indicated that this species diet consists of 22% to 49% grasses and 45% to 100% forbs. Some preferred forb species include western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya), wild buckwheat, white sagebrush (Artemisia ludoviciana), prairie spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis), flatspine stickseed (Lappula occidentalis) and wavyleaf thistle (Cirsium undulatum). Grasses include cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus), western wheatgrass (Elymus smithii) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis). Other foods consumed include pollen, fungi and various arthropod body parts.

The Pasture Grasshopper is one of the earliest species to begin egg laying (oviposition). It prefers to lay eggs in the shade of shrubs and tall forbs. The female lays eggs in bare ground or in the sod of buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides) or blue gramma (Bouteloua gracilis). The eggs are laid relatively deep into the soil, one inch or less. She deposits 10 to 15 eggs per pod (Pfadt 2002).