Recent synonymy - Mermiria neomexicana (Thomas).
Geographic distribution - the prairies, Great Plains, Southwest and the Southeast to Virginia (Hebard, 1925; Otte,1981). Its Colorado range is the eastern mountain foothills (Hebard, 1929) and the eastern plains.
Habitat - found on coarse grasses in dry areas of the plains (Hebard, 1925).
Eggs - eggs are purplish with white longitudinal stripes. Average egg length, 7.2 mm; average width, 1.4 mm (Tuck and Smith, 1939).
Adult - medium to large size. General color is pale brown; the head, pronotum and costar margin of tegmina often are tinged with red. Face is strongly slanted back. Vertex is cone shaped, and antennae are sword shaped. Lateral carinae of pronotum are distinct. Dorsal posterior margin of pronotum is rounded. Dark stripe extends from behind the eye to the end of the pronotum. Prosternum has a small tubercle. Tegmina are without a pale stripe. Wings are clear. Hind legs are long and slender. Hind tibiae are reddish. Male length, 38 mm; female, 51 mm (Ball et al., 1942; Brooks, 1958; Coppock, 1962).
Seasonal history - adults appear in July (Ball et al., 1942).
Abundance and importance - M. picta often is abundant locally (Hebard, 1925).
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Biology of Common Colorado Grasshoppers List
Biology of Common Colorado Grasshoppers
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