By George Ledbetter
In a recently published academic paper, a Chadron State College professor has documented the presence of a particular species of grasshopper in Wisconsin, some 300 miles away from the closest known occurrence.
The six-page paper by Dr. Mathew Brust, professor of biology at CSC, reports the presence of a pallid wing grasshopper, Trimerotropis pallidipennis (Burmeister), in an abandoned gravel pit in northern Wisconsin.
A common grasshopper in the deserts of the southwestern U.S. and South America, the pallid wing grasshopper has never been found east of the Mississippi River. The specimen Brust collected in June 2022 was some 300 miles northeast from the species’ nearest previous recorded occurrence.
Brust’s knowledge of grasshoppers comes in part from identifying specimens for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“I have probably identified over 100,000 grasshoppers,” he said.
An avid collector, he said the species identification work allows him to notice details in insects that others might miss. The banded wings, coloration and flight pattern of the grasshopper were clues that led him to collect the specimen identified in his manuscript.
The differences between species of grasshopper can be subtle, so Brust’s paper and accompanying photographs explain details that differentiate his find from similar species found in the area. In addition to distinctions in morphological characteristics, such as color and size of body parts, finding the adult pallid wing specimen in early summer was a key to identification, as similar grasshoppers occur later in the year.
Brust, a frequent contributor to academic journals, estimates he has had some four dozen papers published. His latest paper appears in the fall/winter 2023 edition of The Great Lakes Entomologist, a publication of Valparaiso University under the direction of the Michigan Entomological Society.