Montana Field Guide

The following is taken from Brooks,(1958), Helfer,(1971), Otte (1970, 1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). A medium size grasshopper with a strongly slanted face and strongly sword-shaped (ensiform) antennae. The wings (tegmina) are short and taper to an acute tip. Body color light brown or pale gray (males usually brown, females gray). Faint stripes occur on the lateral sides of the head, pronotum and onto the forewings but sometimes stripes are broken or absent. The legs are long and slender. This species singing (stridulation) is easily heard in the field with a series of ten to twenty individual leg strokes producing sh-sh-sh-sh sounds of increasing intensity.

Probably overwinters in nymph stage since both nymphs and adults can be found in the fall. They appear in May, and adults occur from June to September, sometimes into October (Hebard 1928, Brooks 1958, Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Otte 1984, Vickery and Kevan 1985, Capinera et al. 2004, and Scott 2010).

The following is taken from Brooks (1958), Helfer (1971), Otte (1981), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), McDaniel (1987), Capinera et al. (2004), Brust et al. (2008), and Scott (2010). Male body length is 23 mm to 27 mm, and females 27 mm to 35 mm. Hind tibia is brown or reddish-brown and has more than 15 spines. The top of the head (vertex) is elongate, bluntly rounded, and projects beyond the eyes by nearly twice the eye length.

Only other species that could possibly be confused with this species would be the Two-striped Mermiria Grasshopper (Mermiria bivittata). It is larger, lacks the strongly slanted face and is much more boldly striped.

This species can be found in a variety of habitats but prefers open areas of tall bunch grasses. Other favored habitats include edges of wooded areas, and streams and ponds (Vickery and Kevan 1985, Otte 1984, Brust et al. 2008).

Feeds on a variety of grasses and sedges including little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), blue gramma (Bouteloua gracilis), foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), and Canada bluegrass (Poa compressa) (Brust et al. 2008).

A courting male approaches a female slowly, stopping frequently, and singing one or more songs each time he stops. He rushes toward the female, stridulating with longer and slower pulses and mounts the female. Information and observations have not been made regarding egg laying, number of nymphal instar stages, and other reproductive characteristics (Otte 1970).