Schistocerca emarginata (also known as S. lineata) belongs to the family Acrididae in the Order Orthoptera. Members of the genus Schistocerca are referred to as bird grasshoppers because of their large size and ability to fly. This species is widespread and is known from southern Canada south to Arizona and Texas and east to North Carolina and Connecticut. The upper hind limbs vary from uniformly brown to banded above.
The winter is spent in the egg stage, or as an adult during mild winters in the south. Eggs are deposited in 1” long masses in soil up to 2” deep. These masses may contain 20 or more eggs. Eggs typically are laid in areas of uncultivated land. The young nymphs hatch in the spring and look similar to the adults, but lack fully-developed wings. They reach the adult stage after 6-8 weeks. Like most grasshoppers, Schistocerca emarginata can occasionally occur in high densities and be considered a pest on some crops. The adults make good fishing bait.
This specimen was collected in Travis Co., Texas at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory on the 1 August 2003 by A. D. Smith. It was made available to The University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray CT Facility for scanning by Dr. John Abbott of The University of Texas at Austin. Funding for scanning was provided by a National Science Foundation Digital Libraries Initiative grant to Dr. Timothy Rowe of The University of Texas at Austin.
Dorsal view of the scanned specimen.
This specimen was scanned by Matthew Colbert on 8 August 2003 along the coronal axis for a total of 1035 1024x1024 pixel slices. Each slice is 0.085 mm thick, with an interslice spacing of 0.085 mm and a field of reconstruction of 40.0 mm. The specimen was mounted on florist foam.
Literature
Capinera, J. L., Scherer, C. W. and J. M. Squitier. 2001. Grasshoppers of Florida. Gainesville, FL, University Press of Florida.
Capinera, J. L., Scott, R. D. and T. J. Walker. 2004. Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States. Ithaca, NY, Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of Cornell University Press.
Helfer, J. R. 1987. How to Know the Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches, and their Allies: Revised Edition. New York, NY, Dover Publications, Inc.
Richman, D. B., D. C. Lightfoot, Sutherland, C. A. and D. J. Ferguson. 1993. A manual of the grasshoppers of New Mexico: Orthoptera: Acrididae and Romaleidae. Las Cruces, NM, New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service.
Links
More information on Schistocerca on the Schistocerca information site
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