Schistocerca nitens
Encyclopedia
Schistocerca nitens is a species of grasshopper
known by several common names, including vagrant grasshopper and gray bird grasshopper. It is a close relative of the desert locust
, which is in the same genus. This grasshopper is native to southern North America including Mexico and the southwestern United States from California
to Texas
. It is also present in parts of Central America. It lives in many habitats including desert, woodland, and lower elevation mountainous areas. It is a large grasshopper, reaching lengths between 4 and 7 centimeters. It is mostly brown and gray spotted or patched in cryptic coloration
. This species is known as a pest on ornamental plant
s and many types of crop plants.
in Hawaii
. This grasshopper is usually solitary, but it has been known to swarm as locust
s as it did on the Hawaiian island of Nihoa
in 2004, wiping out some 90% of the vegetation on the island. It was probably introduced to Hawaii several decades ago and then spread through the archipelago
by flying; it has the ability to fly at least 300 miles across ocean.
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...
known by several common names, including vagrant grasshopper and gray bird grasshopper. It is a close relative of the desert locust
Desert locust
Plagues of the desert locust have threatened agricultural production in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia for centuries. The livelihood of at least one-tenth of the world’s human population can be affected by this voracious insect...
, which is in the same genus. This grasshopper is native to southern North America including Mexico and the southwestern United States from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. It is also present in parts of Central America. It lives in many habitats including desert, woodland, and lower elevation mountainous areas. It is a large grasshopper, reaching lengths between 4 and 7 centimeters. It is mostly brown and gray spotted or patched in cryptic coloration
Crypsis
In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms. It may be either a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation, and methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle, transparency, and mimicry...
. This species is known as a pest on ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
s and many types of crop plants.
Hawaiian population
It is a troublesome invasive speciesInvasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. This grasshopper is usually solitary, but it has been known to swarm as 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 as it did on the Hawaiian island of Nihoa
Nihoa
Nihoa , also known as Bird Island or Moku Manu, is the largest and tallest of ten islands and atolls in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands . The island is located at the southern end of the NWHI chain, southeast of Necker Island...
in 2004, wiping out some 90% of the vegetation on the island. It was probably introduced to Hawaii several decades ago and then spread through the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
by flying; it has the ability to fly at least 300 miles across ocean.