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Scott Schell

Room #9, Agriculture Bldg.

Phone: (307) 766-2508

Email: insectid@uwyo.edu

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Grasshoppers of Wyoming and the West

Entomology

Melanoplus bowditchi Scudder

 
Adult male Adult female

Common name - Sagebrush grasshopper (Anderson and Wright, 1952).

Geographic distribution - Alberta and Saskatchewan (Canada) to Arizona and Oklahoma (Heifer, 1972). In Colorado it is found in the eastern half of the state and in the western mountain valleys and foothills (Gillette, 1904; Hebard, 1929).

Colorado Distribution Map

Habitat - short-grass ranges and dry, open woods (Coppock, 1962; Froeschner, 1954).

Food habits - forbivorous, feeding only on plants of the genus Artemesia. It especially prefers dwarf sage and sand sagebrush (Mulkern et al., 1969; Onsager and Mulkern 1963).

Eggs - eggs are tan colored. Average egg length, 4.8 mm; average diameter, 1 mm (Onsager and Mulkern, 1963).

Nymph - five instars (Ramsey, 1964).

Adult - M. bowditchi is almost identical to M. flavidus; see description of M. flavidus. However, the tegmina tend to be more spotted in M. bowditchi, and the aedeagus is not cupshaped at the tip. (Coppock, 1962).
 

Cercus Furculae Aedeagus

Seasonal history - July to September (Froeschner, 1954).

Abundance and importance - common in southeastern Colorado. Occurs in small numbers in northeastern Colorado (Gillette, 1904).

M. bowditchi fact sheet from the Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers
Next Species: Melanoplus confusus
Previous Species: Melanoplus bivittatus
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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