Considering that the surrounding prairie and prairie restorations were full of grasshoppers, it was notable that there were very few on the Gaillardia pulchella that volunteered in our front yard and by our barn. In fact, this clip is of the only one I saw during the summer and fall of 2022. The resolution isn't great, but the visitor appears to be a grasshopper nymph, enjoying a Gaillardia snack.
Grasshopper on Gaillardia pulchella, July 7, 2022.
Grasshoppers belong to the insect order Orthoptera. The name combines the Greek words for "straight" and "wing." Orthopterans include crickets and katydids, as well as grasshoppers, all having long hind legs used for jumping.
I did not see any katydids munching on Gaillardia, but in June the Gaillardia patch in our front yard was thronged with katydid nymphs, hunkered down on or near the soil. I saw them only if I approached the plants, in which case they leapt up and down like popcorn popping!
In the clips from late summer and early fall you can hear katydids trilling in the background, and you can hear crickets chirping nearby--but neither kind of Orthopteran was visible on Gaillardia plants.
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