Aeropedellus

Members of this genus are characterized by the slant-faced head typical of Gomphocerinae. Aeropedellus clavatus is distinguished by clavate antennae with six enlarged, dark terminal segments. Adults have a dark streak running from beneath the compound eye to the mandible base, with a cream or light tan vertical band anterior to this streak. The pronotum has low but distinct median and lateral carinae cut once by a sulcus behind the middle; lateral carinae converge near the middle of the prozona. Nymphs have strongly slanted faces and oblong, distinct lateral foveolae.

Species occupy grasslands, prairies, and mountain meadows. Aeropedellus clavatus inhabits mixedgrass and bunchgrass prairies, mountain meadows and parks, and alpine tundra. In Colorado, populations occur above timberline at 13,600 feet in rocky, grass-sedge habitats. In the Canadian prairie provinces, it occurs on dry, somewhat sandy areas south of the boreal forest.

The genus occurs in northern North America and Eurasia. Aeropedellus clavatus ranges from western Canada and the northern United States southward to Arizona and New Mexico in mountainous areas. Aeropedellus reuteri is known from southern Krasnoyarsk Region, Republic of Khakassia, and Irkutsk Region in Russia. GBIF records indicate additional occurrences in the Caucasus, Altay, Alaska, Austria, and Buryatiya.

Aeropedellus clavatus is a very early-hatching species; nymphs emerge approximately ten days before bigheaded grasshopper nymphs, or about the first week of May in eastern Wyoming. The hatching period lasts three to four weeks. In alpine habitats above timberline in Colorado, hatching begins mid to late June depending on altitude and seasonal temperatures.

Aeropedellus clavatus has four nymphal instars. Nymphal development is completed in approximately 30 days on plains and 42 days in alpine habitats. The species has one generation annually in plains habitats; alpine populations may require two or possibly three winters for egg development. Females oviposit among grass or sedge roots. Egg pods are 10–13 mm long and 3.5–4.0 mm in diameter, oriented vertically, containing five to eight eggs arranged in two rows inclined about 30 degrees from vertical.

Males of Aeropedellus clavatus stridulate loudly by vibrating the hind femur against a raised vein on the tegmen. Females do not fly; their wings are short and do not reach the middle of the abdomen. Males have either short or long wings, with long-winged males flying extensively in plains habitats. When escaping predators, females hop away while males hop and then prance—taking small, repeated hops without appreciable progression.

Aeropedellus clavatus is a significant agricultural pest. Populations may reach 20 per square yard on Canadian rangeland, causing severe damage to forage grasses. The species has attacked seedling cereals; a 1936 outbreak in Saskatchewan destroyed 300 acres of wheat. It is frequently abundant in grasshopper assemblages infesting rangeland in Montana and North Dakota.

• AgeneotettixBoth are Gomphocerinae grasshoppers with slant-faced heads; Aeropedellus is distinguished by clavate antennae in A. clavatus and different pronotal carinae structure.
• AmphitornusShares subfamily Gomphocerinae and similar grassland habitat; Aeropedellus differs in antennal structure and head markings.

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• Clubhorned Grasshopper
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• Species Records and Accounts
• AEROPEDELLUS REUTERI (MIRAM, 1907) (ORTHOPTERA: ACRIDIDAE: GOMPHOCERINI) – A RARE GRASSHOPPER FROM SOUTH SIBERIA
• Life History of Aeropedellus clavatus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in the Alpine Tundra of Colorado