Family: Acrididae, Short-horned Grasshoppers view all from this family

Description 1 1/2-2 1/2" (38-64 mm). Stout. Shiny black with orange or yellow. Veins on fore wings yellow on black background. Hind wings red with black borders, large enough in male to permit flight.

Food Desert annuals and foliage of perennial shrubs, including mesquite.

Life Cycle Eggs overwinter in soil and survive mild drought, hatching after spring rains. In good years adults appear August-November. In very dry years eggs do not hatch.

Habitat Grasslands and woods with live oak.

Range Texas and Arizona to Mexico.

Discussion These grasshoppers flutter about and leap into bushes when disturbed. Males snap their fore wings together noisily. They are occasionally destructive.