Grasshoppers of Wyoming and the West

Entomology

Montane Grasshopper

Melanoplus montanus (Thomas)

Melanoplus montanus, the montane grasshopper, is a grasshopper historically reported from Yellowstone National Park and the Bighorn Mountain Range in Wyoming. It was first collected from Yellowstone near Mammoth Hot Springs and the Norris Pass localities by Morgan Hebard and James A. Rehn in August of 1904. They described it as a predominately dark brown colored, short-winged grasshopper that is a "...distinctly mountainous species that is found only on the higher hillsides." Adults were collected by PPQ in mid to late June, 2012 on grassy hillsides in Yellowstone Park at elevations abouve 7000 feet. It is likely to feed on grasses but because of its limited distribution, is not expected to cause economic damage in Wyoming and is not considered a pest species. 
Ref: Rehn and Hebard 1906.

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