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| Adult male | Adult female |
Common name - Black males grasshopper (Helfer, 1972) or Boopee (Ball et al., 1942).
Geographic distribution - the Great Plains of Montana and South Dakota to Arizona and Texas (Hebard, 1928; Helfer, 1972). Colorado range is eastern, especially southeastern Colorado (Alexander, 1941).
Habitat - areas of high grasses and moist ground in prairie valley bottoms (Gillette, 1904; Hebard, 1928; Hebard, 1929).
Food habits - a grass feeder preferring blue grama (Fry et al., 1978).
Eggs - 12 eggs are deposited in each pod. Color is white turning dark reddish-brown. Average egg length, 6.5 mm; average diameter, 1.5 mm (Onsager and Mulkern, 1963).
Adult - female large; male medium to large size. Face is almost vertical, vertex is rounded,
antennae are slender. Dorsal hind margin of pronotum is rounded. Wings are clear blue
and clouded at the tip.
Female: head is conspicuously large. Body is dusky and greenish colored, marked with
yellow or black. Tegmina usually are short and ringed with a light band. Lateral carinae
are well marked by light-colored band but not by structure. Hind tibiae are rose colored.
Female length, 31 to 44 mm. Females cannot fly and will dive down and hide.
Male: shining black. Hind tibiae are red. Male length, 20 to 27 mm. Males jump vigorously
and are able to fly (Ball et al., 1942; Gillette, 1904; Hebard, 1928; Helfer, 1972).
Seasonal history - adults are present from early July to early September (Newton et al., 1954).
Abundance and importance - often moderately abundant locally in Colorado (Hebard, 1928).
B. nubilum fact sheet from the Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers
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Previous Species: Aulocara femoratum
Biology of Common Colorado Grasshoppers List
Biology of Common Colorado Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers of Colorado Contents
