Today I am introducing what will be yet another semi-regular feature of this blog: everything cricket, katydid, grasshopper, and related insect will be the focus of “OrThoptera Thursday.” Here in the west, short-horned grasshoppers (Acrididae) are a fixture of plains, prairies, deserts, and even mountain peaks. My visits to the eastern U.S. have been fruitful for the night shift of tree crickets, conehead katydids, and other “long-horned” grasshoppers.
To whet your appetite, I offer this teaser of links to past posts that referenced orthopterans as subjects:
- Summer ‘hoppers Part I
- Summer ‘hoppers Part II
- It’s Hopper Time!
- Tucson Grasshopper Story on TV
- Pygmy Mole Crickets
As always, I welcome suggestions for topics; and I will be searching for specific species of grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids this spring, summer, and fall. I have trips planned for Kansas/Missouri, plus Ohio, and various locations here in eastern Colorado if all the pieces fall into place.
Lastly, a big thank you to all of you who follow this blog. I hope to get the chance to meet all of you in person eventually. Keep up your own great work and let me know if I can help.
Oh, this will be a good one. Grasshoppers in particular give me trouble. (currently with short-horned I've got Carolina, Differential and "grasshopper"). Will you do crickets as well?
ReplyDeleteYes, I'll do crickets, to the best of my ability, but they are maybe the most challenging. Many species are essentially identical in the morphological sense, but appear at different seasons, and/or sing different songs.
ReplyDeletedo you know the name of the second bug in this post? trying to identify a specimen for a biology project. thanks!
ReplyDeleteMegan: The second image is of an adult male Short-winged Meadow Katydid, Conocephalus brevipennis. Good luck with your project!
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