Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
colorful: (Original Post) Ptah Sep 2013 OP
cannibals! Kali Sep 2013 #1
I saw this in a parking lot in Willcox. Ptah Sep 2013 #2
heh Kali Sep 2013 #3
Lubber grasshoppers are several species of obligate herbivores. Chan790 Sep 2013 #4

Kali

(55,000 posts)
1. cannibals!
Sun Sep 8, 2013, 07:32 PM
Sep 2013

and they have the MOST brilliant salmon colored wings. also a non-PC common name - Mexican Generals

Ptah

(33,018 posts)
2. I saw this in a parking lot in Willcox.
Sun Sep 8, 2013, 07:37 PM
Sep 2013

Besides each other, what do they eat?


On another note, I found the burnt motel:


Kali

(55,000 posts)
3. heh
Sun Sep 8, 2013, 07:53 PM
Sep 2013

I have never learned the names of the streets in either Benson or Willcox, so I just have to use the landmarks that I know.

I am not sure what else they eat to tell you the truth - I see them up in all kinds of plants in the late evening - Mormon Tea, Mesquites, Burroweed, patches of tall bunchgrasses, etc. even on ocotillos, but I am not sure they are actually feeding. I do see them on the road eating their flattened compadres - the cycle seems kind of endless in some places.

I haven't seen much of anything else eat them other than large preying mantises. My chickens don't care for them at all, though they love the smaller regular hoppers.

 

Chan790

(20,176 posts)
4. Lubber grasshoppers are several species of obligate herbivores.
Sun Sep 8, 2013, 08:48 PM
Sep 2013

Their closest relatives are not other grasshoppers but locusts. They are pestilence species which lay larvae in clusters capable devouring entire plants and live in large groups making them capable of devastating entire fields of crops. (Think Biblical locust plagues) Most Southern states actively spray and bait to eradicate them. They're huge, some species grow to 8cm though most are closer to 4cm. They come in a variety of bright colors.



Also they're poisonous. They have only one predator, the loggerhead shrike...an equally-fantastic bird...it kills its prey by decapitating it and impaling it on branches to rot. The rotting breaks down the poison.

Latest Discussions»The DU Lounge»colorful: