Colorful grasshopper?
I saw this bug in Seligman, Arizona, while travelling through. It was about 5 cm long and very colorful. I’d love to know what it is…
Lynda

Hi Lynda,
We inquired from one of the entomologists who assist us and Eric Eaton wrote back: “It is actually an adult of the lubber grasshopper, or "homesteader," Brachystola magna. Cool! I have yet to see a live one myself. Thanks for sharing. You might post this to BugGuide, as I don’t think they have an image yet.”
I then did some additional research and found out they range from Minnesota to Arizona and Mexico, north to Montana. They eat vegetation and dead insects, and their bodies retain moisture. You should submit your photo to BugGuide.

very large grasshoppers
Hi Guys,
Recently my girl and I visited Cancun. I was mentioning to her about the pretty little birds flying from the trees to the fifth floor of the hotel balcony. On the second day I realized they were some sort of grasshopper, all green, about 4" long with a red body under its wings only visible when they flew. What the heck are they?
Paul, Boston, MA

Hi Paul,
We are not really familiar with Mexican Grasshoppers, but we have a large American species, the Green Valley Grasshopper, Schistocerca shoshone, that is big and travels in devastating hordes, severely damaging grasslands. We do love your photo though.

An interesting, colorful little grasshopper. Spotted in Austin TX, in my back yard in June of 2001. Nothing like it in my insect field guide. This fellow was small. Grasshoppers are not my forte
Jim

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the photo of the colorful nymph. Sadly, most identification guides do not picture immature insects, and they often are not colored like the adults. We can’t help you with a species name either. The closest guess we can venture is perhaps the Painted Grasshopper, Dactylotum bicolor. Adults have similar coloration, but the pattern is different. It is found in Texas.

2nd grasshopper For tonight’s second contribution, another grasshopper. Again, in Austin TX. Closest I can come in the Insect field guide I have is Melanoplus ponderosus, a spur-throated grasshopper.
Jim

Thanks for you grasshopper photos Jim. We suspect this is an Alutacea Bird Grasshopper, Schistocerca alutacea. The distinguishing feature, not visible in your photo, is a yellow midline stripe. This grasshopper has several color variations, including greenish yellow to dark greenish brown. Fore wings are blackish yellow and hind tibia are red to green, or reddish yellow, bright yellow (like your photo), or black.

Dear What’s that Bug,
On vacation a few weeks ago we spotted quite a big, wonderful insect, but we’re note able to find it in any of our books. Can you tell more about it ? The most impressing thing was it’s size, it’s really huge for an insect I think… We found it in the french pyrenees at about 1800 mtr height, walking in the grass. It looks grasshopper-like at first glance. has six green legs, but the hind legs are not really bigger then te rest as with regular grasshoppers. It didn’t seem to jump, just walked. The body is mainly green with yellowish segments or rings, totally about 5 or 6 cm long, 1.5 cm thick. No wings, and a large scary-looking brown ‘needle’ at it’s back (about 2 cm long ?). Head and body are separated by a brownish stiff-looking joint. Any idea what this could be ?

Dear Ico,
My guess is a member of the order Orthoptera, which includes crickets, grasshoppers, mantids and the like. No wings implies an immature or nymph stage. It could be a walking stick or even a French praying "preying" mantis. A more detainled description, or better yet, a photo, would help.

I saw that someone asked about a bug spotted in the French Pyrenees. It seems to be the same kind we saw this autumn. See image at the bottom of: http://hem.passagen.se/jorun/djur-bilder2.htm . After some investigations we found that it is a female Ephippiger Ephippiger (I think it is called saddle-backed bush cricket in English) The brown "stick" is the egg laying tube.
Jorun Boklöv