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Sticker of Ponderous spur-throat grasshopper
Bug card No. 3390 of 4,939

Ponderous spur-throat grasshopper

Melanoplus ponderosus
Eats: PlantsGrasshoppers and cricketsGardens and meadows6 legs

The ponderous spur-throat grasshopper is a North American grasshopper. Ponderous means big and heavy. Like its spur-throated cousins, it has a little peg under its chin, between the front legs.

Lives in
North America, in grassy places
Top speed
about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not sting. It may kick with its spiny back legs if you hold it.
What does it eat?
Like other grasshoppers, it munches on leaves and grasses.
For real!Photo of Ponderous spur-throat grasshopper
Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Spur-throated grasshoppers get their name from the little spur under their throat.

2

Scientists divide it into two subspecies. One of them is called "viola".

3

It was first described in 1875.

you asked

Most asked questions about Ponderous spur-throat grasshopper

?Is the ponderous spur-throat grasshopper dangerous?

No. It is a harmless grasshopper.

?Where does the ponderous spur-throat grasshopper live?

In North America.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Melanoplus ponderosus
Named by
Scudder, 1875
Group
Grasshoppers and crickets
Family
Acrididae
Classification
Insecta > Orthoptera > Acrididae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Melanoplus ponderosus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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