Melanoplus
Encyclopedia
Melanoplus is a large genus
of grasshopper
s. They are the typical large grasshoppers (and in some cases migratory "locust
s") in North America
. A common name is spurthroat grasshoppers (or "spur-throated grasshoppers"), but this more typically refers members of the related subfamily Catantopinae.
The largest grasshoppers of this genus can reach nearly two inches (5 cm) in length, but most are smaller. Some are intricately patterned and colorful, others are drab.
Melanoplus eat grasses of all kinds, as well as leafy and grassy agricultural crops and garden plants. They feed on the leaves, and sometimes fruit, flowers, and buds, as well as tree bark. Many of the more notable agricultural pest grasshoppers belong here, including the Rocky Mountain locust
, the most significant insect pest of the 19th-century Great Plains
, but now extinct.
are often being discovered and described in this genus where speciation
runs rampant in isolated areas, involving speciation by hybridization.
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Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of grasshopper
Grasshopper
The grasshopper is an insect of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish it from bush crickets or katydids, it is sometimes referred to as the short-horned grasshopper...
s. They are the typical large grasshoppers (and in some cases migratory "locust
Locust
Locusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory...
s") in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. A common name is spurthroat grasshoppers (or "spur-throated grasshoppers"), but this more typically refers members of the related subfamily Catantopinae.
The largest grasshoppers of this genus can reach nearly two inches (5 cm) in length, but most are smaller. Some are intricately patterned and colorful, others are drab.
Melanoplus eat grasses of all kinds, as well as leafy and grassy agricultural crops and garden plants. They feed on the leaves, and sometimes fruit, flowers, and buds, as well as tree bark. Many of the more notable agricultural pest grasshoppers belong here, including the Rocky Mountain locust
Rocky Mountain locust
The Rocky Mountain locust was the locust species that ranged through almost the entire western half of the United States until the end of the 19th century...
, the most significant insect pest of the 19th-century Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
, but now extinct.
Selected species
New speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
are often being discovered and described in this genus where speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
runs rampant in isolated areas, involving speciation by hybridization.
- Melanoplus adelogyrus – Volusia grasshopper
- Melanoplus alpinus – alpine grasshopper
- Melanoplus angustipennis – narrow-winged sand grasshopper
- Melanoplus bivittatusMelanoplus bivittatusThe Two-striped Grasshopper is a species of grasshopper belonging to the genus Melanoplus. It is considered a pest species to the United States and Canada....
– two-striped grasshopper - Melanoplus borealis – northern spurthroat grasshopper
- Melanoplus bowditchi – sagebrush grasshopper
- Melanoplus bruneri – Bruner spurthroat grasshopper
- Melanoplus confusus – pasture grasshopper
- Melanoplus dawsonii – Dawson grasshopper
- Melanoplus devastator – devastating grasshopper
- Melanoplus differentialis – differential grasshopper
- Melanoplus femurrubrumMelanoplus femurrubrumThe Red-legged Grasshopper is a species of grasshopper belonging to the genus Melanoplus. It is found in Mexico, United States and Canada.-Description:...
– red-legged grasshopper - Melanoplus foedus – striped sand grasshopper
- Melanoplus gladstoni – Gladston grasshopper
- Melanoplus infantilis – little spurthroat grasshopper
- Melanoplus keeleri – Keeler's spurthroat grasshopper
- Melanoplus kennicotti – Kennicott grasshopper
- Melanoplus lakinus – Lakin grasshopper
- Melanoplus ludivinae Fontana, Buzzetti & Marino-Perez, 2011
- Melanoplus mixes Fontana, Buzzetti & Marino-Perez, 2011
- Melanoplus oaxacae Fontana, Buzzetti & Marino-Perez, 2011
- Melanoplus occidentalis – flabellate grasshopper
- Melanoplus packardii – Packard grasshopper
- Melanoplus punctulatus – pine tree spurthroat grasshopper
- Melanoplus rugglesi – Nevada sage grasshopper
- Melanoplus sanguinipes – migratory grasshopper
- Melanoplus scudderi – Scudder's short-winged grasshopper
- †Melanoplus spretus – Rocky Mountain locust (extinct: 1902)
- Melanoplus viridipes – green-legged grasshopper
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