Pygmy Grasshoppers

The pygmy grasshopper family is well named, since most species are quite small, never exceeding ¾ inch. Many live near streams or ponds, or in wet or damp places, and some are even semiaquatic. A key identifier is their long, tapered pronotum — that’s the plate at the top of the thorax, behind the head, which in most grasshoppers is quite short and shoulder- or mantle-like, ending about where the wings arise. In pygmy grasshoppers, the pronotum is so long that it usually extends clear over the abdomen, covering or mostly covering the wings.

Other identification tips include:

• Coloration is usually drab and camouflaged; it often varies within a species depending on the local soil or rock color. For species-level IDs, light-and-dark patterning is more helpful than particular hues.
• Foot (tarsal) segments are 2 in the front pair, 2 in the middle pair, and 3 in the hind pair.
• Forewings (tegmina, which are leathery covers in most other grasshoppers) are small and padlike (or absent) in pygmy grasshoppers.
• Flying wings (transparent and veined; technically the second pair) are either short or long, sometimes varying within a species (thus certain species can have both “short-winged” and “long-winged” forms); sometimes wings are completely absent.
• In the hind legs, the joint connecting the thigh-like femur segments to the shin-like tibia segments looks like a pulley. The front part of each hind femur is large and heavy-looking.
• In many species, the males and females look quite different, with different color patterns, different abdomen shapes and sizes, and/or the females typically larger.

Some common Missouri pygmy grasshoppers include:

• Hooded grouse locust (Paratettix cucullatus). Usually a camouflaged gray or tan, but also may be black or brown, with various patterns. Some rather subtle body-form characters verify the ID of this common species, including globe-shaped, prominent eyes; obvious lobes on the femur (thigh-like segment) of the middle pair of legs; and the contour of the upper forehead (between the eyes) (a part called the fastigium) being comparatively narrow and not protruding in front of the eyes, when viewed from above. All members of this species have long wings. This is one of the many pygmy grasshoppers that live along the banks of streams, the margins of ponds and lakes, and in wetlands. Widespread in eastern North America west to Washington and Oregon.
• Obscure pygmy grasshopper (Tetrix arenosa). Similar to the hooded grouse locust. Some individuals have a big white spot on the middle of the back; others are cryptic gray, tan, or blackish. The top (dorsal) surface of the pronotum is nearly flat. Occurs along streams and pond edges, but also occasionally in drier habitats. Occurs in eastern North America west to Texas.
• Black-sided pygmy grasshopper (Tettigidea lateralis). Usually has black or dark sides that contrast with a lighter-colored top (dorsal) surface. The big femur segment of the hind legs usually has a light spot. Usually, the bottom part of the face and throat is distinctively whitish in males, dark in females. Length to about ⅝ inch, which is rather large for a pygmy grasshopper. Although pygmy grasshoppers typically are found in damp or streamside habitats, this species is also found in dry places. Widespread in eastern North America ranging west to Colorado and Arizona.
• Armored pygmy grasshopper (Tettigidea armata). Also called the spined pygmy grasshopper; very similar to the black-sided pygmy grasshopper. There is sometimes an irregular pale band in the middle of the hind femur. One key identifier is a small, sharp, forward-pointing spine on the pronotum between the eyes; also, there is a notable indentation (tegminal sinus) on the side of the body, about midway between the head and the abdomen tip (in front of and above where the hind pair of legs join the body). Usually found in wet habitats such as wetlands and pond edges. Occurs in the eastern United States, west to Michigan, Oklahoma, and Texas.
• Crested pygmy grasshopper (Nomotettix cristatus). A chunky, stubby-looking grasshopper no more than about ⅜ inch long. The elongated pronotum has an outward-curving ridge down the middle, like a crest; the pronotum extends no further back than the joint at the tip of the thigh-like hind femur. Usually found in relatively dry habitats; occurs throughout the eastern United States and parts of southern Canada.