Montezuma's Grasshopper
Syrbula montezuma
Observed along Ruby Road, Atascosa Mts., Sta. Cruz Co., Arizona, USA. 26 Sept 2016.
Sponsored Links:
Grasshoppers are active during the day and many visual predators, namely birds, use them as a vital food source. This evolutionary struggle has resulted in grasshopper species that are exquisitely camouflaged. But even a very good disguise will fail if it is repeated too many times or if the shade differs too much from the background habitat. Therefore, like many grasshopper species the Montezuma Grasshopper shows a lot of color variations from place to place. The marking on the top of the thorax, however, is fairly consistent in this species and will help identify.