zzzzt
There it was again. I had noted the sound for several days as I walked along the trail: a soft buzzing, so faint and sporadic it could have been a gentle breeze making a piece of grass vibrate like a reed. But recurring frequently enough that I suspected an arthropod origin. So I walked on. And I listened.
zzzzt
And again. The same sound, the same duration. Too far away to investigate though: meters away from the trail. I walked on.
zzzzt
I stop. Peer intently into the tall, dry grass but see no movement. The sounds doesn't repeat. I walked on.
zzzzt zzzzt zzzzt
I freeze. The sound came from three different points around me, in quick succession.
zzzzt zzzzt zzzzt
And again! Definitely not wind and grass, responding to itself from multiple locations. I creep toward the sound of the nearest zzzzt and stand motionless but for my eyes, which scanned and darted in search of the slightest movement. And then....
zzzzt
I catch movement coinciding with the sound, a reasonably large insect flying a short distance low to the ground, landing in an area where the grass had been tamped down enough to get a good view. I crept closer. I sidled silently. I squatted...awkwardly.
Got him!
Look at that big boy! With fully-developed wings already in late April, it must be one of the few grasshoppers that overwinters as a nymph or adult, as the majority of species overwintering as eggs would emerge as tiny nymphs and require several weeks to reach adulthood. iNaturalist suggests Green-striped Grasshopper, Chortophaga viridifasciata.
This widespread grasshopper tends to live in moist, grassy areas; their diet, unsurprisingly, is a variety of grasses, including foxtail barley and Kentucky bluegrass. It does indeed overwinter as a later-stage nymph, after hatching from eggs towards the end of summer (which is when many other grasshopper species are in full-blown adulthood). They will become dormant through the cold months, emerging in March as the days become longer.
The zzzzt sound, called crepitation, is made by their wings rubbing together; the Green-striped Grasshopper may crepitate regularly during flight, with males also crepitating to attract females. An interested female will approach, crepitating herself before they woo each other with a seductive femur-tipping dance.
But what about that name? Striped, sure...I guess I can see that. But green? Chortophaga viridifasciata actually comes in two colors: green or brown. Females are generally green, with males normally brown...though both sexes can come in either color (I am calling this one "big boy" but I can't declare with 100% certainty it is actually a boy).
Check out the interesting stripe through the compound eye!
And listen closely for the soft zzzzts (you can hear them fairly clearly at 0:00:03, 0:00::06, and around 0:00:20):
Sources/Additional Reading:
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