Acrididae

A recent grasshopper I have pinned is in the genus Schistocera, or bird grasshoppers. They are called bird grasshoppers because they are very large - this specimen is approximately three inches long, with a five inch wingspan. This species is common in Southern California, and were caught in Los Angeles County.

Orthoptera; Acrididae; Cyrtacanthacridinae; Schistocera nitens
Common Name: Gray Bird Grasshopper

The subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae contains 12 species, and Schistocera is the only genus within the subfamiliy. Most of them are large and strong fliers. The name Schistocera comes from the Greek skhistos (σχιστος)- "split or divided" + kerkos (κερκος)- "tail". This genus includes the locust famous for swarming in Egypt, Schistocera gregaria. There was once a swarming locust of similar agricultural significance in North America, the Rocky Mountain Locust (Melanoplus spretus), but it was wiped out - possibly by farmers destroying its larval/egg/pupa stage by plowing the land. It is thought to have swarmed in the largest numbers known among animals: one swarm containing an estimated 12.5 trillion insects. In 1874, entomologists sighted a swarm that covered 198,000 square miles - greater than the area of California. At any rate, they are extinct since ~1905 and specimens can be found in glaciers, for the time being. However, that species was a member of the subfamily Melanoplinae, spur-throated grasshoppers, while the bird grasshoppers are in the subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae, miagratory bird locusts.

Acrididae

Here are a couple grasshoppers common in California. An unfortunate side effect of preserving grasshoppers is that they tend to discolor and become more orange than they were when first caught. For newly collected insects, I will try to photograph them while they are still alive, to preserve their color. The same goes for Katydids, who become a duller green after they are collected.

Orthoptera; Caelifera; Acrididae; Oedipodinae; Trimerotropis pallidipennis
Common Name: Pallid-Winged Grasshopper

These grasshoppers are of the family Acrididae, or Short-Horned Grasshoppers, which includes the swarming locust variety. They are a distinct family for having relatively short antennae and tympana (or sound organ) on the side of the first abdominal segment. They are extremely common in California, and tend to have a mottled, variable color - some are extremely dark, others extremely light. These two specimens are approximately 1.5 to 2 inches long, found in San Diego. The subfamily, Oedipodinae, refers to "band-winged grasshoppers," based on the color bands on the wings. The distinguishing characteristic for the genus, Trimerotropis, is that the front wings have dark markings, and the ridge on the posterior half of the thorax is faint or absent.