Dactylotum bicolor
Dactylotum bicolor | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Orthoptera |
Suborder: | Caelifera |
Family: | Acrididae |
Genus: | Dactylotum |
Species: | D. bicolor
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Binomial name | |
Dactylotum bicolor Charpentier , 1843 |
Dactylotum bicolor, also known as the rainbow grasshopper, painted grasshopper, or the barber pole grasshopper, is a species of
Description
Dactylotum bicolor grows to an average length of about 20 mm (0.8 in) for males and 35 mm (1.4 in) for females. It is mainly black with distinctive reddish and yellowish markings, a pale green prothorax and pale green wingpads. The tibia of the hind leg bears six to eight spines. This species does not develop wings and is unable to fly.[1][2]
Three subspecies are recognised:[3]
- D. b. bicolor – Northern Texas, New Mexico and Mexico
- D. b. pictum – Northern and eastern part of range
- D. b. variegatum – Southern Arizona and western part of range
The coloring varies across the insect's range, with D. b. pictum being black with little red, D. b. variegatum having distinct red markings, and D. b. bicolor having a purplish or violet sheen to the background black color.[4]
Before the discovery of Dichroplus silveiraguidoi in Uruguay in 1956, Dactylotum bicolor had the lowest known number of chromosomes among grasshopper species, with seventeen acrocentric chromosomes.[5]
Distribution and habitat
It is found in shortgrass prairie, desert grasslands, thinly vegetated areas and alfalfa fields[2] throughout the western Great Plains of the United States (and southern Canada), southward to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and into northern Mexico.[1]
Biology
Its eggs are laid in soft soil in several batches of about one hundred. These overwinter and hatch in late spring or early summer, with adults being present until September or October. There is a single generation each year.[2]
Although adult rainbow grasshoppers are
The insect's coloration was shown to be aposematic in an experiment of predation by
References
- ^ JSTOR 2425373.
- ^ a b c "Dactylotum bicolor – Rainbow Grasshopper". BugGuide. 2009-08-08. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
- ^ "Dactylotum bicolor". Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist. Species 2000 & ITIS.
- ^ JSTOR 4064372.
- S2CID 83853543.
- JSTOR 1564093.