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Phone: (307) 766-2508

Email: insectid@uwyo.edu

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Grasshoppers of Wyoming and the West

Entomology

Aulocara femoratum (Scudder)

 
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Adult male Adult female

Common name - White cross grasshopper (Helfer, 1972).

Recent synonymy - Drepanopterna femoratum (Scudder).

Geographic range - the western plains from Saskatchewan and Alberta (Canada) south to Mexico (Hebard, 1928; Heifer, 1972). Colorado range generally is from the plains to the mountain foothills in the eastern part of the state (Hebard, 1929).

Colorado Distribution Map

Habitat - found in areas of dry, short grass (Hebard, 1928).

Food habits - eats grasses and has a preference for western wheatgrass (Anderson and Wright, 1952).

Eggs - about 10 whitish eggs are deposited in each pod. Average egg length, 5.2 mm; average diameter, 1.3 mm (Onsager and Mulkern, 1963).

Adult - males small; females medium size. General color is brownish-yellow. Head is rather large, antennae are slender, vertex is rounded and face is slanted back slightly. Median carina of pronotum is cut by one suicus. Dorsal posterior margin of pronotum is slightly rounded. Top of pronotum has two diagonal, white lines that make an "X." Lateral lobe of pronotum has a black patch. Tegmina are brown, opaque and closely veined, having several small dark specks. Wings are clear. Hind femora are pale with conspicuous black bands, both on the inner and outer surfaces. Hind tibiae are blue. Male length, 15 mm; female, 25 mm (Ball et al., 1942; Brooks, 1958).

Seasonal history - overwinters in the egg stage. Adults can be seen from mid-July to October (Ball et al., 1942; Newton et al., 1954).

Abundance and importance - occasionally common enough to be destructive to rangeland (Helfer, 1972).

A. femoratum fact sheet from the Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers
Next Species: Boopedon nubilum
Previous Species: Aulocara elliotti
Biology of Common Colorado Grasshoppers List
Biology of Common Colorado Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers of Colorado Contents

Contact Us

Scott Schell

Room #9, Agriculture Bldg.

Phone: (307) 766-2508

Email: insectid@uwyo.edu

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