Arthropods • Earth.com

Pallid-winged grasshopper

(Trimerotropis pallidipennis)

Description

The pallid-winged grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis) is a common grasshopper of the family Acrididae, native to the deserts of western North America along with South America, ranging from British Columbia to Argentina. They are more active during the summer months, and their pale, mottled coloration makes them hard to see against surfaces such as the granite often found in the gravel of dry river beds. They grow to be 37 millimetres (1.5 in). The behavior of the pallid-winged grasshopper is apparently determined by temperature, with foraging occurring at temperatures of 24-32 °C (75-90 °F) and mating at 30-40 °C (86-104 °F). Populations of the pallid-winged grasshopper occasionally irrupt to damaging numbers. Between 1952 and 1980, there were six outbreaks in Arizona, only one of which lasted more than one year. Trimerotropis is a genus of band-winged grasshoppers in the family Acrididae. There are at least 50 described species in Trimerotropis.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Insecta
Order:Orthoptera
Family:Acrididae
Genus:Trimerotropis
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