Montana Field Guide

The following is taken from Hebard (1928), Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971), Otte (1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), Pfadt (2002), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). This species is one of North America’s largest grasshoppers and a strong, adept flier. Their flight is undulating, fluttering, and often consists of right angle turns before landing. They may crepitate* as they fly. They usually fly 1 to 5 feet above the ground, for a distance of 3 to 70 feet. The wings extend well beyond the abdominal tip. The body color can be gray, brown, or reddish with light speckling. It is the only grasshopper species in Montana to have black hind wings with a yellow outer margin. The mid-carina on the pronotum (thorax) is elevated and deeply cut before the middle by one sulcus (groove). The inner face of the hind femur is yellow with black markings and posterior ring. The hind tibia is yellow.

Communicative behavior/Crepitation*
The males are noted for their hovering flight over bare patches of ground. They ascend vertically to heights from 3 to 6 feet, sometimes going upwards to 15 feet above the ground, and hover for up to 15 seconds or longer. During the first half of the flight the wing beats are more rapid than those of the second half. Their crepitation is not as loud as that of Circotettix or Arphia species, but is a soft, hissing sound. After completing a flight, they drop to the ground, landing at the spot where they began their flight. An individual may repeat the flights up to five times. Hovering flights of this species is not as common as those performed by other bandwinged species and one can wait half a day to observe a single flight. The Carolina Grasshopper also uses femur tipping and stridulation* during courtship and aggressive encounters with other males (Otte 1970 and 1984, 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).

This species overwinters in the egg stage. Nymphs begin to appear in mid-May. Adults are present from June through mid-October (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), Otte (1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), Pfadt (2002), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). The body length to the end of the forewings for males is 32-42 mm, and for females 42-58 mm. The male wingspread is 3 inches, and female wingspread is 3.5-4 inches.

This species is not often confused with any other grasshopper species, but in flight it is sometimes mistaken for a butterfly.

The Carolina Grasshopper prefers disturbed sites where there are bare spots of sandy or gravelly soils. It is commonly seen on paved and gravel roads, trails, beaches, sidewalks, parking lots, in suburban yards and driveways, and even city centers. They move from nearby vegetated areas to these barren areas in the heat of the day and conspicuously fly about. Walking a trail, they will often repeatedly fly ahead of one’s approach to a distance of about 3 to 10 feet, land, turn around, and face the intruder. This can go on for several yards walking distance. This is a heat-loving species and on a summer day, one can hardly miss them. (Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, Pfadt 2002, Capinera et al. 2004, and Brust et al. 2008).

This species consumes both grasses and forbs. An individual’s diet mostly depends on what food plants are available. Among favored grasses are Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), Smooth brome (Bromus inermis), and Western wheatgrass (Elymus smithii). Favored forbs include Scarlet globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea), Oppositeleaf false bahia (Picradeniopsis oppositifolia), Russian thistle (Salsola tragus), kochia, and dandelion. Lab tests find this species rejects White goosefoot (Chenopodium album), Redroot amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus) and Curlycup gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa) (Vickery and Kevan 1985, Pfadt 2002).

Males court females by stridulating with their hind femur rubbed against the forewing (tegmina) one leg at a time. He may sit on bare ground in sunlight and stridulate for 5 or more minutes before he attracts a mate. An attracted female walks toward him. When she is within 6 inches, he approaches her and mounts. If he is successful, the pair mate and can remain attached up to 16 hours. The female lays her eggs in sunlit, compacted bare ground, often on the edge of a gravel or dirt road. She works her ovipositor to a depth of 1.5 inches and deposits a large clutch of eggs enclosed in a curved 2-inch-long pod containing 30 to 72 eggs in three or four columns. The eggs are yellow, turning reddish-brown, and measure about 6 mm long, with a diameter of 1.2 mm. The nymphs pass through 5 instars before reaching the adult stage. The nymphal period is 40-55 days, depending on altitude. The nymphs emerge over a two-week period and develop in a habitat mixed with grass, weeds, and numerous bare spots (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Vickery and Kevan 1985, Pfadt 2002).