Arid Lands Spur-throat Grasshopper
Melanoplus aridus
Observed in Madera Canyon, Sta. Rita Mountains, Arizona, USA. 10 Sept 2010.
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Grasshoppers are really wonderful subjects for macrophotography. First they are a challenge to approach closely enough for a detailed image. Second there are so many colorful and intricately patterned grasshoppers in Arizona's canyons. Many grasshoppers more often feed on plants other than grass. This one was feeding in a shrub of burroweed, Isocoma tenuisecta and is generally distributed in arid and semi-arid areas of western Texas to southern California.