Grasshoppers have 5 eyes!
Matt, Kenny, Nick, and I were descending from Emory Peak in Big Bend National Park when we came across this plains lubber grasshopper. We were at the end of a long hot hike, and we were all pretty low on energy. I was the last one to come up to this grasshopper, and I decided to lean in to take a photo. This little insect was fearless and let me get within a few inches of it with my Olympus TG-5 camera.
From this angle, you can see one of the eyes of the plains lubber grasshopper. You would assume that there is just one other eye on this grasshopper, but that's not quite right. Grasshoppers actually have five eyes! The eye that you see in this photo is one of its two compound eyes, but it also has three simple eyes. Two of the simple eyes are locate just above the base of the antenna, and the third is located on the frontal costa between the two compound eyes. The simple eyes are also referred to as ocelli. Similar to the chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly from this month's gallery, the plains lubber grasshopper's compound eyes have thousands of facets, or ommatidia.
If you do a Google search for the Plains Lubber Grasshopper, you'll probably see lots of photos of a dark grasshopper with little pink wings. The one you see here is very light. There are many color variations for this grasshopper throughout its range. It can be found within the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Within the United States, it is primarily found in the West. This explains its other common name the Western Lubber.
The plains lubber grasshopper can grow to be up to 2.25 inches in length. The females are typically slightly larger than the males. The grasshopper can be found in shortgrass, tallgrass, mixed-grass, and desert grasslands.
This insect is also called the Western Lubber
Did You Know?
- The scientific name of the plains lubber grasshopper is brachystola magna.
- These grasshoppers have very small wings and actually can't fly! They can, however, jump extremely far.
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