{"id":104474,"date":"2022-07-24T05:20:56","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T11:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=104474"},"modified":"2022-07-24T06:07:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T12:07:04","slug":"request-for-grasshopper-identification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/24\/request-for-grasshopper-identification\/","title":{"rendered":"Request For Grasshopper Identification"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-wp-editing=\"1\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-104472 size-full\" title=\"Bright green grasshopper nymph on Common Mullein\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917.jpg\" alt=\"Bright green grasshopper nymph on Common Mullein, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271000%27%20height%3D%27714%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201000%20714%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271000%27%20height%3D%27714%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917.jpg 1000w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Bright green grasshopper nymph on Common Mullein \u2013 Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I have struggled for the past four days trying to identify a bright green grasshopper nymph that I found on a Common Mullein up in the Wasatch Mountains. When I showed a photo of the grasshopper to a dear friend he suggested asking the readers of my blog for assistance.<\/p>\n<p>I shared a photo of the grasshopper on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inaturalist.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">iNaturalist<\/span><\/a> and the suggestion was that this is a North American Spur-throated Grasshopper of the Genus <em>Melanoplus<\/em>. Because this grasshopper does not have fully formed wings I believe that it is in an instar stage. Grasshoppers typically have 5 instar stages.<\/p>\n<h2>Location Information:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Found at +\/- 6,200 ft elevation in the Wasatch Mountains in Summit County, Utah.<\/li>\n<li>The Common Mullein is about 15 feet from a dirt road. The road is about 40 feet from an alpine creek.<\/li>\n<li>Nearby vegetation included grasses, mulleins, thistles and willows.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The almost neon green color of the grasshopper was what caught my attention when compared to the duller, lighter green of the mullein flower stalk.<\/p>\n<p>This grasshopper may only be found in western North America or it may be more widespread. I simply don&#8217;t know but I am curious about its identification. If any of you have suggestions for the identification of this grasshopper I would truly appreciate your help.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-104473 size-full\" title=\"Probable European curculionid weevil - Gymnaetron tetrum\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917.jpg\" alt=\"Probable European curculionid weevil - Gymnaetron tetrum, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271000%27%20height%3D%27714%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201000%20714%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271000%27%20height%3D%27714%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-weevils-mia-mcpherson-6917.jpg 1000w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Probable European curculionid weevil &#8211; Gymnaetron tetrum<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While I had the grasshopper and mullein in my viewfinder I could also see a native bee above and to the left of the grasshopper along with several weevils. Because Common Mullein isn&#8217;t native to North America I was curious about the identification of the weevils and did some research. The weevils may be European curculionid weevils (<em>Gymnaetron tetrum<\/em>) which were introduced to North America to help control the spread of the introduced mullein.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not certain about the ID of the bee either because there are many native bees in Utah plus I put more effort into the identification of the larger grasshopper than I did the bee.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good and each day in the field presents a mystery to solve <em>if<\/em> I look close enough.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/insects-and-spiders\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have struggled for the past four days trying to identify a bright green grasshopper nymph that I found on a Common Mullein up in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1731,26,773,99],"tags":[2464,6098,6557,7353,3940,4142,6655,13087,6518,13081,4738,3884,13086,5013,13083,686,4069,6177,12060,4302,13088,6853,13080,13082,13079,2315,6656,13084,13085,5063],"class_list":["post-104474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-wildlife","tag-bee","tag-blooming","tag-blooms","tag-blossoms","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-common-mullein","tag-european-curculionid-weevil","tag-flowering","tag-genus-melanoplus","tag-grasshopper","tag-grasshoppers","tag-gymnaetron-tetrum","tag-identification","tag-instar","tag-introduced","tag-mountains","tag-mullein","tag-mulliens","tag-native","tag-native-bee","tag-nonnative","tag-north-american-spur-throated-grasshoppers","tag-nymph","tag-spur-throated-grasshopper","tag-summer-3","tag-verbascum-thapsus","tag-weevil","tag-weevils","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Spur-throated-Grasshopper-mia-mcpherson-6917.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-rb4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59417,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/10\/two-striped-grasshopper-photographed-on-showy-milkweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":104474,"position":0},"title":"Two-striped Grasshopper Photographed on Showy Milkweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I researched Utah's grasshoppers and found out that this is a Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) and even though I may have seen this species of grasshopper before it is a photographic lifer for me.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Summit County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two-striped Grasshopper, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/two-striped-grasshopper-showy-milkweed-mia-mcpherson-8127.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/two-striped-grasshopper-showy-milkweed-mia-mcpherson-8127.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/two-striped-grasshopper-showy-milkweed-mia-mcpherson-8127.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/two-striped-grasshopper-showy-milkweed-mia-mcpherson-8127.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92845,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/08\/02\/blooming-common-mullein-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":104474,"position":1},"title":"Blooming Common Mullein Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago in between taking Willow Flycatcher photos\u00a0 in the Wasatch Mountains I took blooming Common Mullein images because they were nearby.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hunt's Bumble Bees&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hunt's Bumble Bees","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/hunts-bumble-bees\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Mullein and two bumble bees, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/common-mullein-bumble-bees-and-ant-mia-mcpherson-1689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/common-mullein-bumble-bees-and-ant-mia-mcpherson-1689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/common-mullein-bumble-bees-and-ant-mia-mcpherson-1689.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/common-mullein-bumble-bees-and-ant-mia-mcpherson-1689.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94403,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/03\/western-honey-bee-and-common-mullein-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":104474,"position":2},"title":"Western Honey Bee And Common Mullein Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Both Common Mullein and the Western Honey Bee are introduced, non-native species yet I can't resist photographing them when given the opportunity.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Honey Bees&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Honey Bees","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/honey-bees\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Honey Bee gathering pollen from a Common Mullein, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-honeybee-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6423.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-honeybee-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6423.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-honeybee-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6423.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-honeybee-mullein-mia-mcpherson-6423.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53198,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/23\/blooming-common-mullein-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":104474,"position":3},"title":"Blooming Common Mullein In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As a child I remember plucking the leaves of Common Mullein just to touch them because the leaves were as soft as well worn flannel, their yellow flowers didn't interest me much but the soft leaves sure did.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Common Mullein&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Common Mullein","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/trees-shrubs-and-flowers\/wildflowers\/common-mullein\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blooming Common Mullein, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/common-mullein-blooming-mia-mcpherson-2354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/common-mullein-blooming-mia-mcpherson-2354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/common-mullein-blooming-mia-mcpherson-2354.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":90551,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/18\/male-mountain-bluebird-perched-on-mullein\/","url_meta":{"origin":104474,"position":4},"title":"Male Mountain Bluebird Perched On Mullein","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't had many bluebirds in my viewfinder this spring so when this adult male Mountain Bluebird perched on mullein showed up last week I was happy to photograph it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mountain Bluebird perched on mullein, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-on-mullein-mia-mcpherson-5870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-on-mullein-mia-mcpherson-5870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-on-mullein-mia-mcpherson-5870.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mountain-bluebird-male-on-mullein-mia-mcpherson-5870.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73003,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/08\/22\/immature-male-downy-woodpecker-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":104474,"position":5},"title":"Immature Male Downy Woodpecker Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago while up in the Wasatch Mountains I was able to see and photograph an immature male Downy Woodpecker as it foraged for food in willows and while clinging to a Common Mullein.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of an immature male Downy Woodpecker, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8977.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8977.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}