Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / Grasshoppers and crickets
Sticker of Keeler's spur-throat grasshopper
Bug card No. 2441 of 4,939

Keeler's spur-throat grasshopper

Melanoplus keeleri
Eats: PlantsGrasshoppers and cricketsGardens and meadows6 legs

Keeler's spur-throat grasshopper is a North American grasshopper. Spur-throated grasshoppers have a little peg under their chin, between the front legs. It jumps through grassy places on its strong back 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 Keeler's spur-throat grasshopper
Picture by Robert Webster. 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.

3

It belongs to the short-horned grasshoppers, which have short feelers.

you asked

Most asked questions about Keeler's spur-throat grasshopper

?Why is it called spur-throat?

Because it has a little spur, like a peg, on the underside of its body between the front legs.

?Where does Keeler's spur-throat grasshopper live?

In North America.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Melanoplus keeleri
Named by
Thomas, 1874
Group
Grasshoppers and crickets
Family
Acrididae
Classification
Insecta > Orthoptera > Acrididae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Keeler grasshopper

Where the facts come from

  1. Melanoplus keeleri (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 Robert Webster. 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.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Grasshoppers and crickets

Desert locustGrasshoppers and cricketsHouse cricketGrasshoppers and cricketsParktown prawnGrasshoppers and cricketsEastern lubber grasshopperGrasshoppers and cricketsAustralian plague locustGrasshoppers and cricketsMormon cricketGrasshoppers and crickets

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

Morris' big-headed antAntsBlack-spotted groundbugTrue bugs and cicadasWavy mucksuckerFlies and mosquitoesBeggar mothMothsOchre snake millipedeCentipedes and millipedesBlack-and-gray leafcutter beeBees and bumblebees
Honey jarfor grown-ups