Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Schistocerca melanocera
Saltamontes pintado, Spur-throated Grasshopper, large painted locust
Herbivore; arid to humid forest zone; January-December. This is a large locust, with rather uniformly coloured tegmina, and is common at lights. Adults are more common in the rainy season from March to May.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Orthoptera
Suborder
Caelifera
Superfamily
Acridoidea
Family
Acrididae
Genus
Schistocerca
Species
melanocera
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Schistocerca minor, Schistocerca pallida, Schistocerca lineata, Schistocerca immaculata, Schistocerca intermedia, Schistocerca borealis
Origin: Endemic
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Baltra, Fernandina, Floreana, Gardner at Floreana, Genovesa, Isabela, Marchena, Pinzon, Pinta, Rabida, Santa Cruz, Santiago, Santa Fe, San Cristobal, Daphne.
- Peck, S.B. (2001) Smaller Orders of Insects of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 278 pp.
- Hebard, M. (1920) Expedition of the Calfornia Academy of Sciences to the Galapagos Islands, 1905-1906. 17. Dermaptera and Orthoptera. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series 2(17): 311-346.
- Dirsh, V.M. (1969) Acridoidea of the Galapagos Islands (Orthoptera). Bull. British Museum Entomology 23(2): 28-51.
- Peck, S.B. (1996) Diversity and distribution of the orthopteroid insects of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74: 1497-1510.
- Linsley, E.G. Usinger, R.L. (1966) Insects of the Galápagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Fourth Series 33(7): 113-196.
- Linsley, E.G. (1977) Insects of the Galápagos (Supplement). Occassional Papers of the Califoria Academy of Sciences 125: 1-50.
- Hickin, N. (1979) Animal life of the Galapagos. Ferundune Books, Faringdon, U.K., 236 pp.
- Parkin, P. Parkin D.T., Ewing, A.W. & Ford, H.A. (1972) A report on the arthropods collected by the Edinburgh University Galapagos Islands Expedition, 1968. The Pan-pacific Entomologist 48: 100-107.
- Chapman, R.F. Espelie, K.E., Peck, S.B. (2000) Cuticular hydrocarbons of grasshoppers from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 28: 579-588.
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Schistocerca melanocera", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=6897. Accessed 4 May 2025.