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Phlaeoba antennata
Gomphocerinae, Acrididae
Gomphocerinae is a large, diverse and taxonomically challenging subfamily of grasshoppers but as a generalization, males (and often females) have a stridulatory file on the inner side of the hind femur, consisting of a row of raised pegs along a raised ridge. This is rubbed up and down against raised veins of the tegmina (front wings) to produce sound. So these are "singing" grasshoppers. The related and confounding Oedipodinae subfamily have (at least on the males) a stridulatory file on a raised "intercallary" vein on the tegmina instead of the hind femur; sound is also made by rubbing legs against tegmina, but the placement of the "parts" is opposite.
Spotted on May 1, 2013
Submitted on May 10, 2013
1 Comment
good name, great spot