Redwinged Grasshopper

Fall is a very colorful season, but it is not just the leaves on the trees that furnish brilliant hues. Take for example the subject of today’s “OrThoptera Thursday,” the Redwinged Grasshopper, Arphia pseudonietana. At rest it is a perfectly bland blackish, grayish, or dark brown insect. In flight, however, it exposes bright red hindwings. Their short aerial forays are often accompanied by loud crackling noises created as the front edge of the hind wing rubs against the posterior margin of the narrow front wing (tegmena). These “crepitation flights” are sometimes more conspicuous in sound than in visual display.

© Bob Parks

A Redwinged Grasshopper on the ground is nearly impossible to spot. They are usually well-camouflaged, but they also crawl rapidly into tangled grasses upon alighting. So, even if you happen to see where a flying specimen lands, good luck discovering it before it sees you and takes flight again. They are among the most challenging of grasshoppers to photograph because they are so wary and easily spooked.

The posterior pair of wings in grasshoppers are used in flight, and they are folded in accordion fashion, like a Japanese fan, when not in use. Those bright flight wings are concealed by the camo-mottled or banded front wings when the insect is on the ground.

Specimen accidentally impaled itself on a yucca leaf; I extricated it after this image was taken

Arphia pseudonietana is a widespread species in North America. Their distribution has a funnel shape, with a point of origin in central Mexico. The species ranges northwest up through eastern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia; and east through Texas, Oklahoma, the northern half of Missouri, northern Illinois, Michigan, and extreme southern Ontario, Canada.

This is a decidedly grassland species that is most abundant in prairie habitats, and savannahs with shrubs and scattered trees. In the northeast U.S., look for it in dry, sandy or gravelly situations; and arid hilltops. Some populations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan have bright yellow hindwings instead of the customary red.

Specimen in typical basking posture in full sun

Adults and nymphs feed on grasses and sedges, occasionally doing minor damage to winter wheat in areas where that crop grows adjacent to prairie habitat. It is not considered more than a minor pest to agriculture and rangeland.

The eggs of this species, buried in the soil in a conglomerated “pod,” hatch in mid- to late June. The nymphs take a minimum of 42-56 days to reach adulthood, passing through five instars (the intervals between molts) prior to becoming fully-winged and sexually mature. The adults are large insects ranging from 30-47 millimeters in body length. Females are longer and larger-bodied than males.

Males make display flights with loud crepitations to attract the attention of females. They fly horizontally or nearly vertically to a height of over one meter, slowly fluttering back to the ground. Mated females deposit pods of eggs in the soil, as depicted in the image below.

The Redwinged Grasshopper is worth seeking out, if only to see those bright red wings flashing in the sun. Be on the lookout for other species of “bandwinged” grasshoppers, too, named for the dark band across the hindwing of most species that contrasts with the red, yellow, or even blue basal disc.

Sources: Bland, Roger G. 2003. The Orthoptera of Michigan – Biology, Keys, and Descriptions of Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets. East Lansing: Michigan State University Extension. 220 pp.
Branson, David, and Bethany Redlin. 2012. Grasshoppers: Their Biology, Identification and Management. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.
Capinera, John L., Ralph D. Scott, and Thomas J. Walker. 2004. Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States. Ithaca: Comstock Publishing Associates (Cornell University Press). 249 pp.

Red-shouldered Bug

Today’s edition of “True Bug Tuesday” is all about the Red-shouldered Bug, Jadera haematoloma, family Rhopalidae. Last week, my wife and I happened upon a large number of this species in various life stages here in Colorado Springs. I went back a couple of times to get more and better images.

At first glance, it is easy to mistake Red-shouldered Bugs with boxelder bugs in the genus Boisea. Indeed, they both fall under the more general category of “soapberry bugs,” named for the affinity of these insects for the fruits of certain trees in the family Sapindaceae. Their appetite extends far beyond the berries and seeds of those and other trees and plants, though. They have been observed feeding on flower buds, oozing sap, and even dead insects.

Adults of Jadera haematoloma are overall slate gray with fewer red markings than boxelder bugs. They measure 9.5-13.5 millimeters in body length. Some specimens are brachypterous, meaning they have shorter wings than normal, revealing a bright red abdomen with a black bar or two on those exposed segments.

Nymphs lack wings, so the front half is gray while the back half is red. The nymphs can get very bloated while feeding, as demonstrated by the one imaged below. The nymphs pass through five instars (an instar is the interval between molts) before reaching adulthood. Freshly-molted adults are bright pink or orange.

There are usually at least two generations per year, more in the southernmost states. The bugs mate “tail-to-tail” and are thus easily distinguished from solitary individuals. Females unreceptive to mating signal that fact to approaching males by making noise. They stridulate by rapidly rubbing lateral edges of the abdomen against the adjoining thoracic segments.

A mated female digs a hole about one centimeter in depth in dry soil. There, guarded by the male, she lays a batch of up to twenty eggs. The ova hatch in about two weeks. One female, which usually mates multiple times with different males, can produce between 400 and 800 eggs in her adult lifetime.

Both nymphs and adults can overwinter in cracks, crevices, and other cozy niches. They occasionally take shelter inside homes and other buildings like boxelder bugs, rendering them a “nuisance pest” in some places.

The Red-shouldered bug is also known as the Goldenrain Tree Bug. It is native to the U.S. from Virginia south to Florida and west to Wisconsin, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, and southern California. South of the border the species occurs from Mexico and the Caribbean to Colombia and Venezuela. It has also been accidentally exported overseas, at least to Asia.

This insect is easily confused with boxelder bugs, and any number of seed bugs in the family Lygaeidae which can be of similar size, coloration, and abundance. One must look at various subtle structural characters, rather than color and pattern, to distinguish them with any degree of certainty. With practice, however, one can render a confident ID in the field.

Sources: Carroll, Scott P. 2013. “Jadera haematoloma,” Soapberry Bugs of the World.”
Eaton, Eric R. and Kenn Kaufman. 2007. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 392 pp.
Jing-Fu Tsai, et al. 2013. “The soapberry bug, Jadera haematoloma (Insecta, Hemiptera, Rhopalidae): First Asian record, with a review of bionomics,” Zookeys 297: 1-41.
Slater, J.A. and R.M. Baranowski. 1978. How to Know the True Bugs. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers. 256 pp.

Brown Recluse

The Brown Recluse, Loxosceles reclusa, is without question the most infamous spider in the United States. Frequently maligned as the cause of serious necrotic wounds, and often confused with many harmless species, its reputation is inflated far beyond reality.

Identification

Also known as the “fiddleback” and “violin spider,” Loxosceles reclusa is usually marked distinctively on the carapace. This dark, violin-shaped marking may be vague, or even absent; and many other spiders have similar contrasting patterns. The only way to positively distinguish Loxosceles species is by their eyes. Brown spiders have only six eyes, compared to the usual eight eyes most spiders have. This sextet of ocular organs is arranged in a triangular pattern of three pairs. Understandably, most people don’t want to get close enough to a spider to see its eyes, but that is what is necessary to confirm an identification. Many other spiders are similarly colored, and of similar size. Recluse spiders attain a body length of 5-13 millimeters, with a legspan up to 30-40 millimeters.

Geographic Range

The Brown Recluse is native only to the central and southeast U.S., from Texas to northern Georgia, southeast Nebraska, southwest Ohio, and states in between. There are twelve other species of Loxosceles in North America, two of which are accidental introductions from other parts of the world. The Chilean Recluse, L. laeta, is found in only a few old, historical buildings in greater Los Angeles. The Mediterranean Recluse, L. rufescens, has turned up in many large urban areas, but is again usually restricted to a few highly localized populations. The remaining ten Loxosceles species are confined to the southwest U.S., from south Texas to southeast California and southern Nevada, and are found outdoors more often than in dwellings and other structures. While it is possible for any of the brown spiders to be transported outside their normal geographic range via commerce or travel, the Brown Recluse is less likely to spread than the foreign species.

Bites

The medical significance of the Brown Recluse has been sensationalized by the media and the internet. Various websites display graphic images of the most extreme cases of envenomation, if the pictures even represent spider bites at all. Yes, the venom of Loxosceles is cytotoxic (destroys tissues), and can produce necrotic wounds in some bite victims. However, many other maladies can express similar symptoms. MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is one of these. More to the point, spider bites in general are a rare phenomenon. They are simply overdiagnosed. You owe it to yourself to read this article by Dr. Richard Vetter, and insist that your physician rule out those other potential causes if you ever present what you believe is a “spider bite.”

Should you ever present with a suspected or confirmed spider bite, run, don’t walk, away from any physician who applies electric shock to “deactivate the enzymes in the venom.” This is not a practice endorsed by any respected body of doctors, yet I personally know one bite victim in a rural area who received such “treatment” back in the year 2000.

Precautions

It is relatively easy to avoid the prospect of a spider bite by taking simple precautions, such as those outlined in this article from Spiders.us. Simply never put your hands in places you can’t see. Do be careful moving items that have been stored for lengthy periods without disturbance, especially clothes and linens, as spiders frequently hide in garments and blankets. One of the specimens depicted here was in the folds of a blanket that was taken out of storage in a home in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Natural History

The Brown Recluse earns its name for its shy nature. They hide in narrow cracks and crevices, under stones or other objects, from which they spin a thin, haphazard, vaguely sheet-like web. Sometimes they wander out of their snares, especially at night. They are surprisingly tolerant of others of their kind, so large populations may occupy a small area. The family living in one home in Kansas City, Kansas collected 2,055 specimens in only six months. No one in the household was ever bitten, either. Individual recluse spiders in captivity live 2-3 years.

Conclusions

You should really not fear the Brown Recluse, but do give it respect. Exercise caution in places that you do not visit frequently, like the storage shed, cellar, deep recesses of the garage, and similar structures. Do not assume that every spider you see is a recluse. Male spiders of nearly all species, including those normally confined to webs, will wander in search of mates and may stray indoors in their quest for love. Should you really be concerned, take the specimen to an entomologist or arachnologist at a university, natural history museum, or even the public health department to have it properly identified.

Sources: Bradley, Richard A. 2013. Common Spiders of North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. 271 pp.
Forks, Thomas P. 2000. “Brown Recluse Spider Bites,” J. Am. Board Fam. Med. 13(6): 415-423.
Kaston, B.J. 1978. How to Know the Spiders (3rd edition). Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers. 272 pp.
Vetter, Rick. 2004. “Causes of Necrotic Wounds other than Brown Recluse Spider Bites,” UCR Spiders Site. University of California-Riverside
Ubick, D., P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing, and V. Roth (eds.). 2005. Spiders of North America: an identification manual. American Arachnological Society. 377 pp.

No Answers

It dawns on me that I did not follow up on a previous post where I hinted that ”something really big” might be headed my way. Alas, it was not to be, and the decision has taken some of the air out of my hopes for the future.

Last spring, Answers.com approached me to ask if I would please apply to be their Insect Category Leader for their attempt to go head-to-head with About.com as a major source of online content. I complied by taking the editing test, submitting a sample blog post, and attaching my resumé. Then I waited. And waited.

I tried not to invest too many emotions and expectations in this opportunity, but it would have paid very well for an online enterprise, would have raised my public profile even higher, and most importantly let me reach a much broader audience with facts in the face of the proliferation of myths and urban legend that surround so many insects and arachnids. I truly see it as my mission to improve public understanding and appreciation of all misunderstood and feared animals, be they arthropods or vertebrates.

I periodically touched base with my contact person at Answers.com, and she was very gracious, honest, and punctual in her replies. I finally made one last contact on September 30 and received a reply the next day. The executives chose someone else to be the Insect Category Leader. I was devastated. I feel an obligation to provide at least a small amount of regular income to my marriage (one year and six months as of October 29), and I really thought this was my ticket.

I pressed for an explanation and was told that the only reason I was not selected is because I had done “work” for AllExperts.com, a subsidiary of About.com, which they see as their major competitor. Well, that “work” was all volunteer, to help build my credibility. Indeed, I was ranked as one of the top 50 experts, in all categories (remember doctors, lawyers, and others are on there, too), for 2009. The idea that a potential employer would use that against me, and assume that I would not resign from that “position” if I was hired left me outraged.

This is not the first time something like this has happened. I applied to be the paid expert for the “Pest Control” category at About.com years earlier, and their process is much more rigorous. I was new to writing for the internet, too. In the end, I was not selected for that position, either, due to philosophical differences as near as I could tell. After all, I make no secret of the fact that one of my major goals is to save people time and money by letting them know they rarely need professional extermination services, or over-the-counter chemical controls.

The only conclusion I am left with is that I am supposed to go out on my own. I am honored and grateful that the web wizard who brought you Spiders.us is willing to help me do just that. I have purchased the domain names “Eaton Insect Guides” and “Insect Field Guide,” and we are working methodically to get at least one of those sites erected. The remaining URL will likely funnel directly to the one we end up using.

The commercial site will be geared to addressing non-spider arthropods that I know people ask about consistently. I will need to solicit images of some of them. Eventually, there will be a forum component whereby users will be able to ask me, and the expanded community of people that results from having a forum, about insects and arachnids and other “bugs” they want to know more about.

Meanwhile, I will continue to post to this blog, at least sporadically, because my audience here seems more interested in learning about relatively obscure species that usually must be searched for. I appreciate your patience (and donations if you see fit) while I attempt to juggle both projects, plus Sense of Misplaced where I write about social and cultural issues and human nature. Thank you.