1/29/2021: Autumn grasshopper surprise

One of my favorite things about summer is finding obscure bugs outside and tinkering with keeping a culture going. This can end successfully (in this case of the showy moth flies), or not so successfully (I killed more false sunflower bugs than I’d care to publicly admit this year). Sometimes a little rushed effort goes a long way.

I have long dabbled in grasshoppers, having a strange fondness for them. Perhaps because they were one of the easier large bugs to find when I was younger, or maybe because I associate them with the heat and sun of summer. Not all grasshoppers are religious thermophiles, though.

In late October while visiting a neighbor I noticed some active adult Melanoplus femurrubrum in his beautifully tended native landscaping, despite the looming threat of freezing weather. I captured two females, threw them in a 32 ounce deli cup with a few inches of sand, pulled a couple dandelion and plantain greens to add into the mix, and kept them in front of the heater in my basement for a few weeks. They thrived until either their biological clocks ran out… or I forgot to water for a few days. Regardless, I let the cup sit for a week at room temp then chucked it into the fridge (the same one my human food stays in. You get used to it).

I pulled the cup two weeks ago and set it on top of my display tank rack in the living room, gave it a good soaking, and eagerly watched for babies. My patience grew thin and I stopped checking daily. Clearly I was being unreasonable as today I was greeted by dozens of tiny hatchlings. I may try to culture these, or I may just enjoy raising this lot as an anachronism. They certainly do make me long for the sunny summer days to return.

-Kyle