Montana Field Guide

The following is taken from Helfer (1971), Otte (1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), and Capinera et al. (2004). A medium sized yellow green to olive-green grasshopper relatively free of markings, but a suffused dark stripe often occurs from behind the eye onto the dorsal edge of the pronotum. The forewings (tegmina) are long, extending beyond the tip of the abdomen and widening posteriorly. The hind tibia is greenish yellow with black spines and a dark marking at the apical third.

Adults occur from July to September. No other data is presently available relative to overwintering, nymph occurrence and other aspects of its seasonal cycle (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, and Capinera et al. 2004).

The following is taken from Helfer (1971), Otte (1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), and Capinera et al. (2004). The body length to end of forewings is 25 mm to 29 mm for males, and 30 mm to 38 mm for females. Outer face of the hind femur yellow green to olive-green clear of any markings, but a red stripe occurs on the ventral margin and the inner face. A distinct conical tubercle occurs in the middle of the prosternum between the front legs.

This species could be confused as a Spur-throated Grasshopper (subfamily: Cyrtacanthacridinae) due to the distinct tubercle on the prosternum.

Inhabits wet sedgy areas and thick grass, and rarely found far from meadows, bushy swamps, bogs, and ponds (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, and Capinera et al. 2004).

The Graceful Sedge Grasshopper is a grass and sedge feeder, but specific preferred host plant species have not been recorded in the literature (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, and Capinera et al. 2004).

Courting males stridulate loudly and can be heard from many yards away and are considered more noticeable than any other grasshopper (acridid) that may be present in the vicinity. Presently, no other reproductive and life cycle observations have been reported in the literature (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, and Capinera et al. 2004).