Gossamer Tapestry

Reflections on conservation, butterflies, and ecology in the nation's heartland

Monday, August 09, 2010

What’s more difficult to see…

than a Trimerotropis latifasciata (broad-banded grasshopper) adult on lichen-encrusted clay exposures?

This question was recently posed by Ted at his blog Beetles in the Bush. Ever up for a challenge, I'd argue that a Leuronotina ritensis (Lichen Grasshopper) adult on a lichen-encrusted rock is a pretty good contender.


This species is narrowly endemic to the sky island mountains of southeast Arizona and adjacent Mexico. I photographed this individual in the Atascosas Mountains west of Nogales during my trip last week.

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4 Comments:

At 22:09, Blogger Ted C. MacRae said...

I never really realized how many lichen-camouflagish type grasshoppers there are until I tried to ID the ones I photographed. This one is particularly spectacular.

 
At 22:41, Blogger Ur-spo said...

What beats either is seeing a customer representative and the airport.

 
At 17:39, Blogger Will said...

I think it depends on the surface. Ted's grasshopper was very easy to see because he photographed so close up. I had much more trouble distinguishing it from the background when I walked six feet away from the computer screen.

Your grasshopper gives itself away close up only because of the very distinctive pattern on its massive thigh--like an art deco metal sculpture of a grasshopper. I think without that thigh, the rest of the insect is better camouflaged than Ted's. Six feet away, of course, even the thigh isn't a problem.

 
At 18:33, Blogger rodger said...

Very nice. A pain in the arse to see but what a spectacular grasshopper.

 

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