Red-legged grasshopper

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

N5 - Secure

Minnesota

not listed

Red-legged grasshopper is a medium-sized, spur-throated, short-horned grasshopper. It is probably the most commonly encountered grasshopper in northern United States and southern Canada. It is especially abundant in southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is a strong flyer, commonly flying 30 to 40 feet when flushed. It is the most abundant species of grasshopper in the eastern United States.

The body is dark brown to greenish or reddish-brown. The underside is often bright yellow.

There is a dark stripe behind each eye the continues onto the pronotum and ends abruptly at the hindmost ridge (principle sulcus). There is a distinct, spiny bump (spur) at the base of the neck, between the base of the forelegs. The antennae are red or reddish-brown and are no more than ½ the length of the body.

On the middle pair of legs, the foot (tarsus) is divided into two segments. On the hind pair of legs, the narrow upper portion (the outer face) of the hind femur is dull yellow, is not banded, and usually becomes gradually darker from the base to the tip. The narrow lower portion (the inner face) of the hind femur is yellow. The middle portion of the femur, the broad area between the outer face and inner face, is grooved in a distinct herringbone or chevron pattern. The hind tibia is bright red.

The lower end plate beneath the genitalia (the subgenital plate) is bulbous. The pair of long appendages on the last abdominal segment (cerci) are long and pointed, but this is not visible without a hand lens.

The wings are long, projecting beyond the tip of the abdomen when at rest.

Size

Male: ⅝″ to 15 ⁄16″ (17 to 24 mm)

Female: 13 ⁄16″to 1⅛″ (21 to 29 mm)

Similar Species

Migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguinipes) hind tibia are bluish-green or red. The subgenital plate is notched. The cerci are shorter and are rounded.

Prairies, woodland edges, wetlands, roadsides, croplands, gardens, and disturbed areas

Season

July to October

Behavior

Life Cycle

The female thrusts its ovipositor into sod and deposits a pod containing 20 to 26 eggs. The pods are about ¾″ long and ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ wide. The female continues depositing egg pods in a scattered pattern, ultimately laying up to 300 or more eggs. The eggs hatch in the spring when plants are green over a period of about 52 days. The nymphs mature into adults in about 40 days. Due to variations in soil moisture and temperature nymphs can be found throughout the summer.

In years of drought adults develop longer wings which enable them to migrate long distances.

Nymph Food

Shoots and other easily digested parts of the same plants that adults feed on.

Adult Food

A wide variety of forbs and grasses, including crops such as corn, alfalfa, soybeans, small grains, tobacco, and vegetables.