Melanoplus alpinus

Distinguished from similar Melanoplus species by the male cercus structure: the ventral arm is sharply pointed and bends medially, unlike M. infantilis where the lower arm curves downward and ends in a rounded blunt tip without medial bend. The dark dorsal stripe on the hind femur is continuous with a distinctive wedge-shaped dorsal mark, whereas M. kennicotti shows a feather-and-shaft pattern. Nymphs identifiable by green body color (early instars), dark compound eyes, and prominent dark dorsal stripe on hind femur.

Medium-sized, long-winged grasshopper with wings reaching approximately to the end of the abdomen. Head, thorax, and tegmen usually gray, ranging to light tan; venter and sides of abdomen cream-colored. Hind femur with continuous dark dorsal stripe that may fill most of medial area, often with wedge-shaped mark dorsally in middle; lower medial area pale gray or tan. Upper marginal area of hind femur tan with three black transverse bars. Hind tibia green, blue, or pink. Male cercus bifurcate: dorsal arm stubby and blunt, ventral arm sharply pointed with both arms bending medially.

Inhabits grass-forb meadows and parklands of montane environments. In the United States, found at elevations from 6,400 feet in Montana to 11,000 feet in Colorado. In Canada, occurs in mountain meadows and parklands as well as foothill habitats as low as 3,200 feet. Vegetation characterized by mixed grass-forb associations including Idaho fescue, bluegrasses, and various forbs.

Northwestern North America, including the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada Mountains. Documented in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Canadian provinces.

Eggs hatch from early to late June following snow melt, with hatching period lasting 6 to 17 days. Nymphal development lasts 25 to 40 days. Adults appear by early July and persist through mid-September, with some individuals surviving into October.

Polyphagous, feeding on both forbs and grasses. Diet composition varies geographically: in Colorado, 69% forbs and 18% grasses; in southern Wyoming, 77% forbs and 12% grasses; in northern Wyoming, 93% forbs and 7% grasses. Preferred forbs include Arenaria congesta, Arenaria fendleri, Astragalus adsurgens, Lupinus laxiflorus, Oxytropis campestris, Musineon tenuifolium, and Taraxacum laevigatum. Preferred grasses include Poa spp., Elymus lanceolatus, Festuca idahoensis, and Stipa occidentalis. Will also consume fungi and injured or dead arthropods.

Eggs undergo extended diapause requiring two to three years of soil development before hatching; 92% of eggs require three years, 8% require two years, with none hatching in one year. Females deposit eggs in curved pods 1 to 1 1/8 inches long, containing 8 to 12 yellow to pale tan eggs measuring 4.3 to 5.0 mm. One generation annually.

Highly geophilous species: rests, basks, feeds, and shelters on the ground. When flushed, more often jumps than flies; evasive flight when it occurs is short, low (6 to 8 inches), and silent. Basks by sitting horizontally on bare ground or litter, turning side perpendicular to sun rays and lowering hindleg to expose abdomen. Morning basking begins approximately two hours after sunrise and lasts 2 to 3 hours. Second basking period occurs in late afternoon. At night, retreats deep into grass crowns or wedges up to 2 inches below soil surface alongside rocks.

Primary consumer in montane meadow ecosystems. Considered beneficial in some contexts due to feeding on competing weeds and poisonous plants including locoweed (Oxytropis) and lupine. Serves as prey for insectivores in mountain parkland food webs. Population densities typically low (less than 0.1 to 3.7 adults per square yard), with no documented outbreak irruptions.

Minor economic importance as a potential pest of livestock forage, particularly competitive with livestock on summer range during droughts when forage is limited. Feeds readily on Idaho fescue, a key forage grass. No documented outbreaks; populations remain at low densities even in years favorable for outbreaks of related species such as M. borealis and M. bruneri.

• Melanoplus infantilisCo-occurs in mountain meadows and has similarly bifurcate male cercus, but M. infantilis cercus lower arm ends in rounded blunt tip without medial bend, versus sharply pointed medially-bending arm in M. alpinus
• Melanoplus kennicottiShares montane habitat and early hatching phenology, but M. kennicotti is smaller with dark gray body and hind femur medial area marked by three dark gray bands with feather-and-shaft appearance on middle band, versus continuous dark dorsal stripe with wedge-shaped mark in M. alpinus

• grasshopper
• montane
• diapause
• spur-throated
• Melanoplinae

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• List of Species Fact Sheets| Grasshoppers of Wyoming and the West
• Little Spurthroated Grasshopper
• Kennicott Grasshopper
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• Species Records and Accounts