B-912

The author, an entomologist who has studied the classification and biology of grasshoppers for over 50 years, discloses the life history and behavior of 60 common western grasshoppers. In reproductions of stunning color photographs, he illustrates and describes all stages of each species - the egg, nymphs, and adult. These provide a simple comparative method for identifying most specimens in collections of the West and many of the Midwest and East. He also provides information on the economic impact of each kind, harmful or beneficial.

Nearly 400 species of grasshoppers are known to inhabit the 17 western states. Of these, approximately 60 species are commonly found by persons scouting damaging populations. For personnel who lack taxonomic experience, identifying the nymphs and adults of these common grasshoppers is a difficult task.

Field guide to common western grasshoppers provides a pictorial guide that allows plant protection personnel to make grasshopper identification in the field. This 288-page bulletin contains distribution maps of the different species, brief accounts of their seasonal cycles, feeding and reproductive behavior, and habitat preferences.