Pygmy Grasshopper

Description:

This little pygmy grasshopper is about 3 mm long with white stripes and red "knees" on the hind legs. Some had the thoracic stripe white and most of the others had the thoracic stripe bright yellow. They are very similar to the ones seen at the Chiflon Waterfall (also Chiapas) (http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/155...), except that the antennae are mostly white with black tips, while those from the Chiflon had banded antennae. The one from Orizaba, Veracruz (two states away)(http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/14936656/fullscreen) is also very similar, except that it has the thoracic stripe bright red! These could all be morphological variations from different localities within the same species. It is probably a species of the genus Rhipiteryx (Family Rhipipterygidae).

Habitat:

Rocks and boulders all along the river edge. Chorreadero Park, 10 km above Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico.

Notes:

This pygmy grasshopper loves water and we are seeing it in rocky river gorges close to the river: ie: Chorreadero and Chiflon in Chiapas and Orizaba in Veracruz. It jumps and flies quickly and is hard to photograph.