Melanoplus femurrubrum
Melanoplus femurrubrum
Melanoplus femurrubrum (English: "Red- legged Grasshopper " = " red-legged grasshopper ") is a grasshopper from the family of grasshoppers ( Acrididae ).
- 5.1 Notes and references
Features
The animals are 18 to 28 millimeters long. Your body underside is yellow, the rails ( tibiae ) of the hind legs are bright red. Only rarely the rails instead are yellowish- green or blue colored. The males can be determined at the bulbous subgenitalplate and their Cerci. The nymphs are strikingly patterned yellow and black. The following features are characteristic of them: your compound eyes are brown to burgundy and have pale yellow or beige points of this more on the dorsal side and less anteriorly. They lack an oblique dark fascia. The front of the head bears in the center a dark, vertical napkin on either side margins pale yellow. These yellow napkins meet at the bottom of the front plate ( clypeus ). There is a broad, pale yellow crescent, which continues to the side lobes of the pronotum to the first abdominal segment and then increasingly faded over the remaining abdomen to the cheeks. Dorsal verläugt centrally from head to end of abdomen a pale yellow strip on both sides wide margins black. The lateral lobes of pronotum wears a black tie or a black spot below the yellow half- moon. The legs ( femora ) of the hind legs wearing a black stripe that is not interrupted by a pale binding. The strip spans the top, and about one third or more of the lower medial portion and lacking only in the body directed towards ( proximal ) end of the legs. The rails ( tibiae ) of the hind legs are mostly pale yellow or pale gray and black front. The tips of the spines are also black.
Occurrence and habitat
Melanoplus femurrubrum occurs in many parts of North America, and missing only in the high mountain areas and the far north. The type is one of the most prevalent species of grasshoppers in North America. Be settled among other things, the high vegetation of grasslands, meadows, fields and roadsides. Preference is given to little moist, herbaceous areas that are overgrown with their food plants.
Way of life
Adult animals occur from early summer to autumn on into it. While undertaking the type propagation flights - especially in dry years, in which the animals develop larger wings, they fly more often and longer - but most individuals take off only slightly from the place of hatching. The animals are active during the day and rest sitting on grasses and herbaceous plants at night above. Their activity begins around 6:30 clock and they start about half an hour after the seizure. Between 16:30 and 1700 clock they climb back up to then rest again from about 17.30 clock vegetation. The flight of locusts is quick, smooth and takes place approximately one meter above the vegetation. The animals fly distances of 90 to 120 meters at a stretch.
Nutrition
The grasshoppers feed on a large number of different tall-growing perennials and grasses. Among the known food plants include legumes such as birdsfoot trefoil ( Lotus ), white sweet clover ( Melilotus albus), yellow sweet clover ( Melilotus officinalis), bush clover ( Lespedeza ), Astragalus ( Astragalus ) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa), daisy family such as dandelion (Taraxacum ), Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus ), Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) and (Ambrosia psilostachya ) and grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass ( Poa pratensis ), barley (Hordeum vulgare), oats (Avena ), wheat (Triticum ), defenseless brome ( Bromus inermis ), Japanese brome ( Bromus japonicus ), timothy grass ( Phleum pratense) and reed canary grass ( Phalaris arundinacea ). Be eaten while usually several plant species next to each other. Nymphs fed only one with a plant species have a high mortality rate.
Development
The females lay their eggs in an ootheca between grass from the ground. The ootheca is clearly curved, and 19 to 25 millimeters long. She is on her first third of dried foam, in the lower two thirds are located 20 to 26 eggs. These are 4.1 to 4.4 millimeters long and have a pale yellow color. Per year occurs a generation. The nymphs hatch about three weeks after Melanoplus bivittatus in late spring and early summer. Since the females lay their oothecae at different points in the habitat that differ in temperature and humidity takes the period during which Nymphs hatch average of 52 days. The nymphs develop in about 40 days to the adult animal.
Economic Importance
Melanoplus femurrubrum regarded as pests in agriculture. In outbreaks in which 200 to 500 animals per square yard ( about 0.84 m²) can occur, the type caused major damage to alfalfa, clover, soybean and cereals. So they can completely destroy the second cut of red clover and cause a crop failure 20-25 % for individual cereal boxes. In the eastern United States and Canada, the type also occurs on tobacco and vegetables, especially beans, beets, cabbage and potatoes. In outbreaks and the loss of forage grass in meadows is not negligible.