Coral-winged grasshopper

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

N5 - Secure

Minnesota

not listed

Coral-winged grasshopper is a common, large, early season, bandwing grasshopper. It occurs across southern Canada and in the United States from Maine to Tennessee west to Montana and New Mexico. It is common in the eastern half of Minnesota. Adults are found from April through June in prairies, old fields, savannas, and forest openings with grasses, always in areas with very sandy soil.

Adults are large, robust, and grayish-brown. Females are 1⅝″ to 2¼″ (42 to 58 mm) in length. Males are smaller, 1¼″ to 1⅝″ (32 to 42 mm) in length.

When viewed from the side the top front of the head is angled and the face is broadly rounded. The face is vertical or nearly vertical. There is a distinct, concave, depressed area (fastigium) at the top of the face between the compound eyes, and a small depression (foveola) immediately above each eye. The broad vertical ridge on the face (frontal costa) is narrowed between the antennae. The compound eyes are not bulging and do not extend above the top of the head. The antennae are short, no more than half the length of the body.

The plate over the thorax (pronotum) is saddle-shaped and has a distinct longitudinal ridge in the middle. There is a single transverse groove (suculus) across the pronotum that cuts through the ridge. The lateral lobes of the pronotum are rounded and the rear margin is extended. The angle of the triangular extension is less than 90°. It does not extend over the abdomen or beyond the base of the wings. The front part of the pronotum (prozona) is much shorter than the rear part (metazona). On the underside of the thorax there is no spur between the front legs.

There is a pair of flat, round, hearing organs (tympani) on the sides of the first abdominal segment. On the female the ovipositor is short and stout.

The forewings (tegmina) are long, narrow, and slightly thickened. They have large dark spots and no dark cross bands. The spots are mostly confined to the sides and rear. When folded over the body the top is dark in the basal area, pale on the sides and for most of their length. The pale sides darken gradually toward the center. They do not form distinct stripes. The hindwings are membranous and are folded fan-like when at rest. They are coral red in the discal area, have a broad dark cross band, and are clear at the tip.

On the hind legs the third segment (femur) is greatly enlarged and long, as long as the tegmina. The inner face is yellow to orange and is crossed by two broad dark bands. The fourth segment (tibia) is yellow, orange, or coral red. There are two spurs at the end of the tibia. The inner spur is less than twice as long as outer. On all of the legs the end section corresponding to the foot (tarsus) has three segments. The last segment has a pair of claws at the tip. The pad-like structure between the claws (arollium) is extremely small or absent.

Size

Female: 1⅝″ to 2¼″ (42 to 58 mm)

Male: 1¼″ to 1⅝″ (32 to 42 mm)

Similar Species

Prairies, old fields, savannas, and forest openings; sandy soil

Season

April through June

Behavior

Adults are active during the day.

Life Cycle

Eggs overwinter in the soil and hatch the following July. The half-grown nymphs overwinter again and mature in the spring of the following year. Mature adults are present from April through June and are gone by July.

Nymph Food

Adult Food

Unknown but probably grasses and sedges.