It's time to read and vote for your favorite article in the 2013 Write-Off Contest! The four finalist's articles are featured in the May 13 newsletter and can be found through this link. Hurry! Voting ends May 18.
You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
One of the largest (2.5 to 3.5 inches long) and most colorful grasshoppers I have come across in Arizona, Taeniopoda eques is native from Arizona to Texas and south into Mexico. It feeds on desert shrubs including Mesquite and can be somewhat destructive. I've yet to find any info about it's common name, "Horse Lubber".
Only the males have wings large enough to fly and they are clumsy flyers at best. But if you happen to spot a male in flight (and I have, this one is male) you are treated to a display of fluttering scarlet wings that immediately grabs your attention.
Adults emerge anywhere from August to November, feed, mate and die. Eggs overwinter in the ground and will not hatch in drier years. It is reported the adults will exude a foul smelling foam when disturbed and apparently don't taste too good either. It's only known predator is itself. As adults die off, the remaining living adults will cannibalize them.
I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph this one both living and dead. And consider myself blessed to have come so close to such a beautiful creature.
On Jan 1, 2009, tucsonjill from Lincoln, NE (Zone 5a) wrote:
I have mixed feelings about these guys. Probably the most attractive grasshopper I've ever seen, but also voracious. They decimated my rain lilies in no time at all.
