Montana Field Guide

The following is taken from Hebard (1928), Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Otte (1984), Vickery and Kevan (1985), Pfadt (2002), Bland (2003), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). This species is a relatively large, medium brown to gray grasshopper sprinkled with dark spotting, which sometimes coalesce to form 3 or 4 indistinct bands on the tegmina (forewings). The disk of the hindwings is yellow, with a black band and short, wide spur, and wide clear tip. The median carina (ridge) of the pronotum (thorax) highly elevated and deeply cut by one sulcus (groove). The outer face of the hind femur is speckled with no bands, the inner face is yellowish with 4 black bands. The margin of the femur has a fine fringe of hair. The hind tibia is orange or red, fading toward its base.

Communicative behavior/Crepitation*
The Mottled Sand Grasshopper crepitates infrequently, mostly when disturbed. Crepitation seems insignificant as a role in courtship. This species spends much of its active time on the ground, both day and night. Males stridulate* only when they approach a female by pressing their hind femora against their forewings on both the upstroke and downstroke. Femur-tipping and femur-shaking are used in male-to-male aggression encounters, with striking the ground with its tibia tips, producing a drumming sound which can be heard several feet away (Otte 1970, 1984, and Vickery and Kevan 1985).

*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 Mottled Sand Grasshopper overwinters in the egg stage. Nymphs begin to occur in the last week of May and first week of June and continue over a 23-day period. Adults are present from July to September (Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, Pfadt 2002, Capinera et al. 2004, and Scott 2010).

The following comes from Hebard (1928), Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Otte (1984), Vickery and Kevan (1985), Pfadt (2002), Bland (2003), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). The body length to end of forewings is 21-31 mm for males, and 27-37 mm for females. Wings extend 6 to 10 mm beyond the abdominal tip.

In Montana, this species can sometimes be confused with others possessing an elevated pronotal crest and deeply cut sulcus, such as Carolina Grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina), the two Arphia species and those in the genus Trimerotropis (Otte 1984, Capinera et al. 2004).

This species inhabits open, sunny areas with sandy soils covered by sparse vegetation (hence its name), such as blowouts, beaches, sandy river margins, and sandy cultivated fields (Otte 1984, and Pfadt 2002).

The Mottled Sand Grasshopper feeds on a wide variety of grasses, sedges, and forbs. Grasses and sedges consumed in large amounts include Blue Gramma (Bouteloua gracilis), Needle-and-Thread (Stipa comata), Western Wheatgrass (Elymus smithii), Sand Dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus), Witch Panicgrass (Panicum capillare), Thread-leaved Sedge (Carex filifolia), and Baltic Rush (Juncus balticus). Favored forbs include sand sagebrush, Flatspine Stickseed (Lappula occidentalis), sunflowers, Redroot Amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus), Prairie Spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis), lupine, and ragweed. In general, this species feeds on almost any plant species available within its preferred sandy habitats (Pfadt 2002).

Males often sit motionless on bare ground for long periods of time, and then suddenly move at a rapid rate toward any other moving grasshopper—male or female, and even individuals of other species. As they approach, they make one or two pulse stridulations. If the grasshopper is a female of its species, pair formation and copulation occur. If the female is not responsive to the male’s courting, she repels him by shaking her hind femurs and striking the ground with the hind tarsi. Females oviposit their eggs in sand areas close to vegetation, requiring up to 34 minutes. Egg pods are 19.1 mm long by 4.7 mm in diameter and contain 21-28 eggs, 5 to 5.2 mm long. Hatched nymphs pass through 5 instar stages before reaching the adult stage (Pfadt 2002).