Orthoptera of North Carolina
Scientific Name: Common Name:
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View Acrididae Members: NC Records

Mermiria picta (Walker, 1870) - Lively Mermiria

Taxonomy
Family: Acrididae Subfamily: Gomphocerinae Tribe: MermiriiniSynonym: Mermiria alacris
Comments: One of four species in this genus, all of which occur in North America north of Mexico (Cigliano et al., 2018); three species have been recorded in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Capinera et al. (2004)Online Photographs: BugGuide, Google Images,  iNaturalist, GBIFTechnical Description, Adults/Nymphs: Rehn (1919); Blatchley (1920); Otte (1981)                                                                                  
Comments: A large, slender, green and red-striped, Slant-faced Grasshopper. The antennae are red but the ground color of the rest of the head, thorax, abdomen and legs are green to yellowish-green. A red mid-dorsal stripe runs down the head and thorax and continues on as a reddish shade on the dorsal field of the tegmina. A red postocular stripe, bordered on both sides by white lines, runs from the head onto the sides of the thorax and similar lines also run from the lower part of the face along the the thorax just above the legs. The lateral field of the tegmina is also reddish but lacks the white streak found in the other two species of Mermiria (a red and white extension of the postocular band extends below the edge of the wings to the rear of the thorax). The hind femora is variably streaked with red and the hind tibiae are usually all red. The size, color, and pattern distinguish this species from all other grasshoppers in our area.
Total Length [body plus wings; excludes ovipositor]: 30-41 mm (to the end of the tegmina), males; 46-57 mm, females (Otte, 1981)
Structural Features: Antennae are long and ensiform. Lateral carinae of the pronotum are well-developed and cut by two sulci; they are less well developed in M. intertexta and not evident in M. bivittata.
Singing Behavior: Stridulation was not mentioned by Blatchley (1920) or Otte (1970, 1981) but occurs during courtship in our other two species and may occur in picta as well.
Nymphal Stages and Development: Apparently not described
Distribution in North Carolina
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Adult Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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