Insect Order Orthoptera - Crickets, Grasshoppers & Katydids
From the Greek "straight wing" ortho = straight, ptera = wing.
Live adult and immature Orthoptera specimens photographed in the wild at various North American locations.
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Grasshopper - Melanoplus bivittatus
Two-striped Grasshopper - Melanoplus bivittatus. This is an egg-laden female.

American Bird Grasshopper - Schistocerca americana
American Bird Grasshopper - Schistocerca americana


Pygmy Grasshopper
Family Tetrigidae

Katydid Nymph
Orchelimum sp.
Crackling Forest Grasshopper - Trimerotropis verraculata
Crackling Forest Grasshopper
Trimerotropis verraculata

Red-legged Grasshopper
Melanoplus femurrubrum
There are more than 20,000 species in the order Orthoptera. These diverse insects are found worldwide, although their numbers are concentrated in the tropics. They vary in size from less than 5mm to monster-big grasshoppers over 4 inches long, with 10-inch wingspans. Orthopterans are some of the most common insects in many landscapes, and the order includes some of the most destructive agricultural pests in the locusts and katydids. Most eat plants, but some species are omnivorous.

Females typically lay clutches of eggs either in the ground or on vegetation. Grasshoppers, crickets and katydids are all wee-known for their jumping ability as well as the singing performed by the males (females are generally silent.)  Grasshoppers are almost all active in the daytime, but crickets are nocturnal. Katydids are thought to be nocturnal, but I see an awful lot of them out and about when the sun is shining. There are few places on earth where the calls of these intriguing insects are not heard nearly constantly during the warm months.

The first fossil records of the order appear in the upper Carboniferous, or Pennsylvanian era, 310 - 290 million years ago. [1]

Carolina grasshopper - Dissosteira carolina
Carolina grasshopper - Dissosteira carolina

Scudder's Bush Katydid
Scudderia sp.


Black-sided Katydid
Conocephalus nigropleurum


Carolina Grasshopper
Dissosteira carolina


Differential Grasshopper
Melanoplus differentialis


Katydid Nymph
Conocephalus sp.

Grasshopper
Female grasshopper found at 6500 ft. in the Rocky Mountains. Melanoplus sp.

Metamorphosis: hemimetabolous, paurometabolous. That is, a simple, gradual metamorphosis wherein the juveniles are correctly termed "nymphs." Nymphs have similar appearance, habitat, and food sources to the adults; they achieve sexual maturity and full wing structure at the final molt. They share this form of metamorphosis with the Hempitera (true bugs).
Body characteristics: Slim body, modified fore wings, pronotum "collar" of thorax, legs modified for jumping or running, structures to make and receive sound.

References

1. Gwynne, Darryl T., DeSutter, Laure, Flook, Paul, and Rowell, Hugh. 1996. Orthoptera. Crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, etc.. Version 01 January 1996. http://tolweb.org/Orthoptera/8250/1996.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
 

 

              
 
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