Schistocerca nitens

Taxobox
name = "Schistocerca nitens"


image_width = 230px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Orthoptera
subordo = Caelifera
familia = Acrididae
genus = "Schistocerca"
species = "S. nitens"
binomial = "Schistocerca nitens"
binomial_authority = Thunberg, 1815
synonyms = "Schistocerca vaga"

"Schistocerca nitens" is a species of grasshopper known by several common names, including vagrant grasshopper and gray bird grasshopper. It is a close relative of the desert locust, which is in the same genus. This grasshopper is native to southern North America including Mexico and the southwestern United States from California to Texas. It is also present in parts of Central America. It lives in many habitats including desert, woodland, and lower elevation mountainous areas. It is a large grasshopper, reaching lengths between 4 and 7 centimeters. It is mostly brown and gray spotted or patched in cryptic coloration. This species is known as a pest on ornamental plants and many types of crop plants. It is a troublesome invasive species in Hawaii. This grasshopper is usually solitary, but it has been known to swarm as locusts as it did on the Hawaiian island of Nihoa in 2004, wiping out some 90% of the vegetation on the island.Lockwood, J.A. & A.V. Latchininsky. (2008). [http://www.conbio.org/CIP/article30811.cfm Confessions of a Hit Man] . "Conservation Magazine" 9:3.] It was probably introduced to Hawaii several decades ago and then spread through the archipelago by flying; it has the ability to fly at least 300 miles across ocean.

External links

*ITIS|ID=102226
* [http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/extrnlpg/ghwywest/nmfsscni.htm USDA ARS Species Profile]
* [http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/orthopt/Schistocerca.htm Photo gallery]

References