Mating grasshoppers - Oedaleonotus phryneicus
This is a mating pair of grasshoppers (Acrididae, Orthoptera) on a leaf of native Coyote Mint aka White-leaf Monardella (Monardella hypoleuca, Lamiaceae) that will be flowering any day now. If you look close, you can see that both grasshoppers have very short wings - and they are obviously adults! I believe they are Oedaleonotus phryneicus (Melanoplinae) grasshoppers, and those little stubs are all the wings they will ever get. The colors of these grasshoppers sure is confusing. These are dark, but others are tan - compare this photo. They just are variable, but they all have little stubby wings. Happy hump day! (San Marcos Pass, 3 July 2019)
Today was another nice day, with temps up to about 80°. I went up East Camino Cielo road looking for red, white, and blue flowers for an Independence Day triptych tomorrow. It was curious that marine-layer clouds seemed to grow in size as I drove along. They never got up to my level in the mountains, though the "fog wind" did.
Mating grasshoppers - Oedaleonotus phryneicus
This is a mating pair of grasshoppers (Acrididae, Orthoptera) on a leaf of native Coyote Mint aka White-leaf Monardella (Monardella hypoleuca, Lamiaceae) that will be flowering any day now. If you look close, you can see that both grasshoppers have very short wings - and they are obviously adults! I believe they are Oedaleonotus phryneicus (Melanoplinae) grasshoppers, and those little stubs are all the wings they will ever get. The colors of these grasshoppers sure is confusing. These are dark, but others are tan - compare this photo. They just are variable, but they all have little stubby wings. Happy hump day! (San Marcos Pass, 3 July 2019)
Today was another nice day, with temps up to about 80°. I went up East Camino Cielo road looking for red, white, and blue flowers for an Independence Day triptych tomorrow. It was curious that marine-layer clouds seemed to grow in size as I drove along. They never got up to my level in the mountains, though the "fog wind" did.