Brachystola

Adults are distinguished from other grasshoppers by their large size, flightlessness (short, rounded non-functional wings), and distinctive color patterns combining green, brown, and pink with black markings. The pronotum is trapezoidal with a dense covering of small knobs and short wrinkles. Tegmina are pink with conspicuous black dots. Hind femora are large and multicolored; males have noticeably larger hind femora than females. Nymphs display green, tan, or fuscous heads with filiform antennae bearing ivory annuli, trapezoidal pronota with distinct black carinae, and patterned hind femora. Unlike Acrididae grasshoppers, Brachystola species have reduced wings incapable of flight and move primarily by crawling and hopping.

Grassland prairies including shortgrass, mixedgrass, tallgrass, sand, and desert prairie types. Populations are patchy and concentrated in disturbed sites with abundant forbs, particularly along roadsides, field margins, and rangeland with host plant patches. Presence depends on availability of specific forbs, especially sunflowers (Helianthus spp.).

Western plains of the United States and northern Mexico. Documented from Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico. Distribution is widespread but patchy, with populations localized to areas supporting host forbs.

Hatching occurs from mid-May in eastern Kansas to mid-June in northern Colorado and Wyoming, and mid-June in Montana. In southeast Arizona, hatching is delayed until summer monsoon rains wet the soil. Adults appear from late June in Kansas to late July in Montana. Egg laying begins approximately 23 days after adult emergence and continues for about 60 days, typically through September. Some adults survive into November in milder climates.

Polyphagous, feeding on diverse forbs and grasses. Crop content analysis reveals consumption of at least 16 forb species, 4 grass species, and arthropod parts. Common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a preferred host, found in 35% of crops examined. Other frequent plants include hoary vervain (Verbena stricta, 19%), western wheatgrass (11%), kochia (9%), and prickly lettuce (9%). Laboratory studies indicate preferences for common sunflower, western ragweed, cotton seedlings, dandelion, prairie sunflower, and annual sowthistle. Observed omnivory includes predation on incapacitated insects and smaller grasshoppers.

Two-year life cycle requiring two growing seasons for completion. Eggs undergo two years of incubation and overwintering before hatching. Nymphs develop through five instars over approximately 45 days in nature (27 days under laboratory conditions: 14 hours light at 87.8°F, 10 hours dark at 78.8°F). Adults reach sexual maturity in about 23 days. Females deposit eggs in large gourd-shaped pods (1.75–2 inches long, 0.75 inch diameter) containing 20–35 eggs (10.1–10.8 mm long, dark reddish brown) in bare sandy loam areas. Oviposition continues for approximately 60 days. Biennial population fluctuations with higher densities in alternate years support the two-year cycle.

Flightless; disperses by crawling and hopping. Unflushed hops of adult females measure 3–4 inches; flushed hops reach 14 inches. Males have been observed to jump up to 9 feet. Adults frequently cross highways and roads. Daily activities include morning basking (dorsal or flank basking) for approximately two hours after sunrise, followed by feeding and movement. During midday heat (ground temperatures 110–140°F, air temperatures 93–100°F), individuals seek shade on vegetation or adopt postural responses facing the sun to shield the body. Evening and early morning roosting occurs vertically on stems or horizontally on leaves at heights of 8–41 inches. Strong dispersal tendency through prairie vegetation in consistent direction at relatively rapid speed.

Herbivore and occasional predator in prairie ecosystems. Serves as prey for birds, rodents, and carnivores including swift foxes. Functions as intermediate host for the eyeworm parasite Oxyspirura petrowi, a nematode affecting northern bobwhites and other galliform birds. In sunflower patches, provides limited biological control of weeds; however, outbreak populations can cause significant agricultural damage.

Occasional agricultural pest, particularly of cotton in Texas, Oklahoma, and western plains. Outbreak populations have destroyed young cotton stands entirely, consuming all foliage and leaving only stems. Economic damage thresholds: one adult per 3 feet of cotton row, or two per square yard in field margin vegetation. Documented outbreak years in Texas include 1954, 1959, 1977, and 1979. Brachystola magna was used in early genetic studies due to its large, easily visible meiotic chromosomes. Serves as intermediate host for Oxyspirura petrowi, a parasite of game birds of concern to wildlife management.

• DissosteiraBoth are large, flightless grasshoppers with reduced wings; Dissosteira (Carolina grasshopper, high plains grasshopper) differs in having more elongate wings and different coloration (typically gray-brown with black hindwings), and occupies different habitats including bare ground and disturbed areas rather than dense forb patches.
• RomaleaBoth are large lubber grasshoppers in family Romaleidae with aposematic coloration and flightlessness; Romalea microptera (eastern lubber grasshopper) is restricted to the southeastern United States, has different color patterns (often yellow, orange, and black), and lacks the pink tegmina with black dots characteristic of Brachystola.
• MelanoplusSome Melanoplus species are large and share grassland habitats, but all have functional wings capable of flight, more slender bodies, and different pronotal structure without the dense knobbing seen in Brachystola; most are in family Acrididae rather than Romaleidae.

• grasshopper
• lubber
• flightless
• prairie
• pest
• intermediate host
• polyphagous
• biennial life cycle
• thermoregulation
• North America

• 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
• Plains Lubber Grasshopper
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• Grasshoppers of Colorado
• A Two-Year Life Cycle in Brachystola magna (Orthoptera: Acrididae) with Notes on Rearing and Food Preference2
• Plains Lubber Grasshopper (Brachystola magna) as a Potential Intermediate Host for Oxyspirura petrowi in Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) – CORRIGENDUM
• Plains lubber grasshopper (Brachystola magna) as a potential intermediate host for Oxyspirura petrowi in northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus)