ROADSIDE GRASSHOPPERS

     I enjoy seeing grasshoppers leaping away from me into tall grass and other plants along country roads in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania during late summer.  Those human-made habitats are oases for several kinds of adaptable vegetation and creatures in constantly cultivated farmland that is difficult for wildlife to live in.  Four kinds of grasshoppers, including Carolina, differential, red-legged and meadow, are plentiful here and there, among many local, rural roadsides that are overgrown with a variety of tall grasses and other types of plants that they also ingest.

     These kinds of grasshoppers have much in common, besides sharing a built habitat.  They are camouflaged to blend into vegetation for the grasshoppers' safety from critters that would eat them.  All these grasshoppers species ingest grass and other plants along rural roadsides.  They range across much of the United State's grasslands, meadows and roadsides.  Each kind has a pair of large, powerful back legs they use to jump to avoid predators.  All of them, except meadow grasshoppers, can fly short distances to quickly avoid predators.  All species have incomplete metamorphosis- with no pupa stage.  Newly hatched young are miniatures of their parents when they hatch in the warmth of spring.  And they are all attractive and interesting, each type in its own way.    

     Female grasshoppers of all species lay at least a few clutches of several eggs each in soft soil in early autumn.  The eggs lie dormant through winter, but their parents die during the first major frost of October in this area.  Grasshoppers, as species, survive winter only in the egg stage.  

     Carolina grasshoppers are about two inches long, and brownish, which blends them into soil.  Males are readily seen hovering in place, while rattling their black and yellow wings for a few seconds each courtship display to attract the attention of females in their areas for mating.  I have seen these males do that many times and it is always an interesting display that makes me smile.

     At a little over two inches long, differential grasshoppers are the largest of their kind along local, country roadsides.  They are gray-green all over, which blends them into the tall grass they shelter in and eat.  I have often seen these large grasshoppers perched quietly on the tips of grasses. 

     Red-legged grasshoppers do have red on the bottom parts of their back, jumping legs.  This species is about one-inch long and beautifully marked among the tall vegetation it lives in.

     Meadow grasshoppers are one inch long and mostly green, which camouflages them well among green plants.  By rapidly rubbing their legs against their wings to make a low, trilling sound, males of this kind attract females to themselves for mating.     

     Several kinds of creatures prey on roadside grasshoppers, including striped skunks, American kestrel hawks, black and yellow spider webs, praying mantises and other critters.  Young grasshoppers are eaten by field crickets, ground beetles, and a limited variety of sparrows and finches that feed along roadsides, like house sparrows, horned larks and indigo buntings.  

     Grasshoppers are interesting little creatures that help liven farmland roadsides through much of the United States.  One can experience them by walking along country roads late in summer and watching them leaping into sheltering vegetation.    

        



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