Barren Land Grasshopper
Trimerotropis pistrinaria
This record describes Trimerotropis pistrinaria (species). Recorded family: Acrididae. Recorded order: Orthoptera.
Identification and Appearance
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)
- Suborder
- Caelifera
- Family
- Acrididae (Short-horned Grasshoppers)
- Subfamily
- Oedipodinae
- Tribe
- Trimerotropini
- Genus
- Trimerotropis
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
Habitat and Range
Habitat
Gravelly to rocky slopes, crests, ridges, hilltops, breaks, etc. primarily in grassland areas, and sometimes into openly wooded areas.
Geographic Range
Widespread on grasslands of plains from southern Canada into Texas & northern Mexico, and where habitats suite it, westward into eastern portions of the Rockies. In the Southwest it is found westward into eastern Arizona, and it has also been found in an area from central Utah to east-central Nevada.
Diet and Behavior
Life History
Overwinters as eggs; hatching in spring or summer; with adults from late spring or summer until frost.
Additional species information
Species notes from the sources
Etymology: Being structurally almost identical to Spharagemon equale [the type species of Spharagemon ], " Trimerotropis " should probably be called a Spharagemon ; however, this move has never been published. The species was placed within Trimerotropis based on the twice-cut median ridge of the pronotum, an artificial distinction (it can be cut once or twice in S. equale , and several other species, depending on the individual examined). A few additional species of " Trimerotropis " and " Spharagemon " (i.e. S. campestris, T. modesta, T. tolteca, T. inconspicua , etc.) are apparently closely related, and are of equally dubius generic placement.
About Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids: the wider group
Order-level background for Orthoptera, the group containing Trimerotropis pistrinaria. Species-specific details appear above.
Group overview
Orthoptera includes ~28,000 described species of grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids. Desert locusts can form swarms covering 460 square miles containing up to 80 million individuals per square kilometer.
Ecological role of the group
Grasshoppers and crickets are a primary food source for birds, reptiles, and small mammals. Cricket farming is a growing industry - crickets require 12× less feed than cattle to produce the same amount of protein, using 2,000× less water.
Economic and practical significance of the group
A single large locust swarm can consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people. The 2019-2021 East Africa locust crisis affected food security for 42 million people across multiple countries. Global crop losses from locusts can reach billions annually.
Recorded sources for this group: FAO, UN World Food Programme, research publications. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.
Photos of Barren Land Grasshopper (5)
Photo credits: Contributed by Tom Bentley; Additional contributions by David Ferguson