Orthoptera of North Carolina
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View Acrididae Members: NC Records

Melanoplus devius Morse, 1904 - Devious Melanoplus

Melanoplus devius
Taxonomy
Family: Acrididae Subfamily: Melanoplinae Tribe: Melanoplini
Comments: Melanoplus is our largest genus of Orthopterans, with over 350 species occurring in North America (Cigliano et al., 2017). 38 species have been recorded in North Carolina. Melanoplus devius was included in the Ovobatipennis Species Group described by Blatchley (1920) but is left out of the Tribulus Species Group as currently definedby Cigliano et al. (accessed 2024-10). This group was recently reviewed by Hill (2014), who included Melanoplus decoratus, moresi, rusticus, tepidus, tribuloides, and tribulus. Hill also added Melanolplus nossi, which he described in this paper, and thought that devius could possibly be included based on external morphology. In North Carolina, members of the Tribulus Group include decoratus, tribulus, nossi, and provisionally, devius.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: BugGuide, Google Images,  iNaturalist, GBIF                                                                                  
Comments: A small, short-winged (flightless) grasshopper. As in other members of the Tribulus Species Group, The dorsal surface of the head and body is dark, reddish-brown. A shining black stripe runs from the back of the eye and extending along the sides of the thorax and abdomen. The sides of the thorax below the stripe are white. The legs are yellowish-brown and the hind tibiae are yellowish green. This pattern is similar to several other species of short-winged Melanoplus and the external reproductive structures must be used to identify this species; photographs that include a good view of the cerci and subgenital plate provide enough information for that purpose.
Structural Features: Prosternal spine cylindro-conic, bluntly pointed (Blatchley, 1920). Male cerci usually obliquely excised with lower angle pointed and decurved. Tips of cerci with lower angle blunt (see Fig. 129, c. in Blatchley, 1920).
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)

Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: In the mountains, this species appears to be associated with fairly open stands of hardwoods. At one site in the Piedmont, however, it was collected in an old, never-mowed pasture.
Diet:
Observation Methods:
Abundance/Frequency:
Adult Phenology:
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: W3
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GU S2S3
State Protection:
Comments:

Image Gallery for Melanoplus devius - Devious Melanoplus

Recorded by: Stephen Hall
Ashe Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: J. Edward Corey III; S. Becker
Rutherford Co.
Comment: Confirmed by J. Hill
Recorded by: Stephen Hall
Cabarrus Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: T. Daggy
Mecklenburg Co.
Comment: NCSU Insect Museum specimen