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Black-sided Pygmy Grasshopper

Tettigidea lateralis

Description:

Eyes prominent. Pronotum rounded, extends over head. Tends to extend to tip of abdomen in southern populations, but is shorter in northern. Variably black, gray, brown, or cream. Often dark-sided with wide creamy band on top. Lower face of female is usually dark, that of male is usually a creamy white. (2) Hind femur often has a light spot. Compare front margin of the pronotum to differentiate from T. armata, similar, and found in moist habitats. In T. lateralis front margin is rather rounded. In T. armata it is spined. (Copied from http://bugguide.net/node/view/9258)

Habitat:

Found in a semi-permanent water puddle near marshland and pine woods forest.

Notes:

The larger of the two (presumably female) was only about 1 cm in length. They seemed like they were more aquatic than most grasshoppers. They sought safety in a puddle and never separated from one another.

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4 Comments

Musicwolf
Musicwolf 9 years ago

I was pleased at getting both sexes at the same time too. Thanks again, it looks like I may have to spend MORE time on Bug Guide - lol.

ForestDragon
ForestDragon 9 years ago

I spotted a Pygmy Grasshopper (different species) in Virginia a few weeks ago. I recognized the body shape. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/247...

I spend a lot of time on Bug Guide (for better or worse, haha!). So I checked out the pages of the Pygmy Grasshoppers and looked for ones with matching markings and body structure. It's nice you were able to get photos of both the male and female as well as multiple angles! It really helps to have those when trying to ID organisms.

Musicwolf
Musicwolf 9 years ago

Unbelievable ForestDragon. I think you nailed it! How in the world did you figure this one out?

ForestDragon
ForestDragon 9 years ago

Check out Tettigidea lateralis, Black-sided Pygmy Grasshopper: http://bugguide.net/node/view/9258

Musicwolf
Spotted by
Musicwolf

North Carolina, USA

Spotted on May 3, 2014
Submitted on May 4, 2014

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