Melanoplus aridus

Melanoplus aridus · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Acrididae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Melanoplus aridus
Photo: Matt Muir, CC BY

This grasshopper lives in North America. It eats the leaves of plants such as Flourensia cernua.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Feeds on the leaves of Flourensia cernua and other plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 10 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Nebraska.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Melanoplus aridus photo 3
Photo: Adam J. Searcy, CC BY
Melanoplus aridus photo 4
Photo: Andrew Meeds, CC BY
Melanoplus aridus photo 5
Photo: William Harmon, CC BY
Melanoplus aridus photo 6
Photo: Jared Shorma, CC BY

Same family (Acrididae)

Differential GrasshopperDifferential GrasshopperMelanoplus differentialisDamages trees, gardens or cropsTwo-striped GrasshopperTwo-striped GrasshopperMelanoplus bivittatusDamages trees, gardens or cropsCarolina GrasshopperCarolina GrasshopperDissosteira carolinaDamages trees, gardens or cropsCommon Field GrasshopperCommon Field GrasshopperChorthippus brunneusEgyptian Bird GrasshopperEgyptian Bird GrasshopperAnacridium aegyptiumGray Bird GrasshopperGray Bird GrasshopperSchistocerca nitensDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanoplus_aridus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.