Melanoplus bowditchi

Distinguished from other Melanoplus species by the elongated, slender shape of the male cercus. Nymphs identifiable by: face nearly vertical with slightly receding profile; compound eye with pale yellow spots; pale yellow crescent on gena below eye running onto lateral pronotal lobe; pronotal disk medium gray or brown with fuscous spots, darker than lateral lobes; hind femur with dark stripe centrally located in instars I–II, shifting dorsally in instars III–V; hind tibia pale gray in instars I–IV, pale blue in instar V with fuscous front surface in all instars.

Pale to dark gray medium-sized grasshopper. Wings long, extending 3–5 mm beyond abdomen tip. Hind femur medial area marked by chevrons separated by white lines, darker dorsally and lighter ventrally. Hind tibiae light to medium blue. Male cercus elongated and slender, an essential diagnostic character. Live weights average 394 mg (males) and 434 mg (females); dry weights 80 mg and 144 mg respectively.

Inhabits mixedgrass, shortgrass, desert, and bunchgrass prairies, and certain desert shrub communities. Distribution within these units depends entirely on presence of sagebrush. Specifically associated with silver sagebrush in mixedgrass prairie and sand sagebrush on sand dunes and sand hills where silver sagebrush is absent.

Widely distributed in western North American grasslands. Recorded from Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, and throughout the western United States and adjacent Canada. Range closely matches the combined geographic distributions of its primary host plants, silver sagebrush and sand sagebrush.

Eggs begin hatching first week of June in eastern Wyoming mixedgrass prairie, approximately three weeks after bigheaded grasshopper hatching. Nymphal development takes 30–40 days. Adults appear first week of July, with nymphal molting continuing for up to one month. Adults present July through September.

Feeds almost exclusively on sagebrush species. Primary host plants are silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana) and sand sagebrush (A. filifolia). Crop contents in western North Dakota contained 97% silver sagebrush and 5% fringed sagebrush; in western Nebraska, 88% sand sagebrush with remainder undetermined forbs and pollen. Four other species—big sagebrush, fringed sagebrush, tarragon, and cudweed sagewort—ingested in small amounts. Adults have been observed feeding horizontally on ground-dwelling lichens.

• Artemisia cana - primary hostSilver sagebrush; preferred host in mixedgrass prairie, 97% of crop contents in North Dakota
• Artemisia filifolia - primary hostSand sagebrush; host in sand dune and sand hill habitats where A. cana is absent
• Artemisia tridentata - secondary hostBig sagebrush; ingested in small amounts
• Artemisia frigida - secondary hostFringed sagebrush; 5% of crop contents in North Dakota
• Artemisia dracunculus - secondary hostTarragon; ingested in small amounts
• Artemisia ludoviciana - secondary hostCudweed sagewort; ingested in small amounts

Eggs tan, 4.5–4.9 mm long, deposited in pods approximately 19 mm (three-quarters inch) long containing 12–13 eggs surrounded by froth and held by scant accessory gland secretion. Females oviposit readily in bare soil; one observed ovipositing for at least 30 minutes, attended by male, then covering hole by working ovipositor back-and-forth and sideways. Five nymphal instars.

Phytophilous species spending much of daily life on host plant. Nymphs and adults roost 6–16 inches high on silver sagebrush stems at night, head up. Remain in resting positions for approximately two hours after sunrise, then adjust to expose sides or backs to sun. By 9 a.m. many jump to ground to bask horizontally, turning side perpendicular to sun and lowering exposed hindleg. When soil surface reaches 70°F (~10 a.m.), become active and return to host to feed. Late afternoon basking occurs before roosting resumes by 6–7 p.m. Evasive flights silent, straight, 12–15 inches high, 1.5–12 feet long; usually land on vegetation including host plant or grass culm. Feeding behavior includes attacking leaf edges, cutting leaf at base and holding with front tarsi to consume entire leaf, and feeding on flowers when available.

Herbivore specialized on sagebrush species. Potentially damaging to silver sagebrush, which provides good to excellent fall and winter browse for livestock and game animals, though low population densities prevent significant impact. Serves as prey for vertebrate and invertebrate predators in grassland ecosystems.

Potential pest of valuable forage plant (silver sagebrush), but economic damage does not occur due to consistently low population densities. Insignificant component of grasshopper outbreaks. May be encountered during rangeland surveys using sweep nets near host plants.

• Melanoplus borealisAdjacent species in subfamily sequence; distinguished by male cercus shape and coloration patterns
• Melanoplus bruneriAdjacent species in subfamily sequence; M. bowditchi distinguished by elongated slender male cercus and specific sagebrush host association
• Other Melanoplus speciesMale cercus shape is essential diagnostic character; M. bowditchi has elongated slender cercus unlike the short boot-shaped cercus of M. bivittatus or other congeners

• grasshopper
• Melanoplinae
• sagebrush specialist
• Artemisia
• western North America
• phytophilous
• herbivore
• non-pest
• Acrididae

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