# Tropidacris

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{{Short description|Genus of grasshoppers}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Romaleidae Tropidacris collaris 1.jpg
| image_caption = ''[Tropidacris collaris](/source/Tropidacris_collaris)'', mating pair
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Tropidacris
| authority = [Scudder](/source/Samuel_Hubbard_Scudder), 1869 <ref>* Scudder, 1869 : ''Notes on Orthoptera collected by Professor James Orton on either side of the Andes of Equatorial South America.'' Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. 12, {{p.|330-356}}</ref>
| synonyms =
* ''Eutropidacris'' (Hebard, 1923)<ref>Hebard. 1923. Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 49:252</ref>
}}

'''''Tropidacris''''' is a [Neotropical](/source/Neotropical) genus of [grasshopper](/source/grasshopper) in the family [Romaleidae](/source/Romaleidae).<ref name=speciesfile>[http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1116266 Orthoptera Species File]</ref><ref>[http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/search/all/key/Tropidacris/match/1 Catalogue of life]</ref><ref name=Carbonell1986>{{cite journal| last=Carbonell | first=C.S. | year=1986 | title=Revision of the Neotropical Genus Tropidacris (Orthoptera, Acridoidea, Romaleidae, Romaleinae) | journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | volume=138 | issue=2 | pages=366–402 }}</ref> They are among the [largest grasshoppers](/source/List_of_largest_insects) in the world by length and wingspan, reaching up to {{cvt|14.5|cm}} and {{cvt|24|cm}} respectively.<ref name=DinezFilho2010>{{cite journal| last=Dinez-Filho | first=J.A.F. | display-authors=etal | year=2010 | title=Ensemble forecasting shifts in climatically suitable areas for Tropidacris cristata (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Romaleidae) | journal=Insect Conservation and Diversity | volume=3 | issue=3 | pages=213–221 | doi=10.1111/j.1752-4598.2010.00090.x | s2cid=54538413 }}</ref><ref name=Carbonell1986/> They are variably colored in green, brown, black, reddish or yellowish, and have wings that usually are conspicuously blue (''T. collaris'' and ''T. descampsi'') or red (''T. cristatus'') in flight.<ref name=Carbonell1986/><ref name=PaulaRomao2017>{{citation| last=Paula Romão | first=E.d. | year=2017 | title=Distribuição geográfica e potencial das espécies do gênero Tropidacris Scudder, 1869 (Orthoptera: Romaleidae) | publisher=[Pará State University](/source/Par%C3%A1_State_University) }}</ref> The gregarious and flightless [nymphs](/source/Nymph_(biology)) have bright [aposematic](/source/aposematic) colors and are presumed to be toxic;<ref name=Whitman2008>{{cite journal| last1=Whitman | first1=D. | last2=Vincent | first2=S. | year=2008 | title=Large size as an antipredator defense in an insect | journal=Journal of Orthoptera Research | volume=17 | issue=2 | pages=353–371 | doi=10.1665/1082-6467-17.2.353 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Despland2020>{{cite journal| last1=Despland | first1=E. | last2=Srygley | first2=R.B. | year=2020 | title=Ontogenetic shift from aposematism and gregariousness to crypsis in a Romaleid grasshopper | journal=PLOS ONE | volume=15 | issue=8 | article-number=e0237594 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0237594 | pmid=32817631 | pmc=7444530 | bibcode=2020PLoSO..1537594D | doi-access=free }}</ref> a researcher who tasted one noted that it was very bitter, similar to a [monarch butterfly](/source/monarch_butterfly).<ref name=Starr1998>{{cite journal| last=Starr | first=C.K. | year=1998 | title=Field observations of Tropidacris collaris (Orthoptera: Romaleidae) | journal=Living World | volume=1997-1998  | pages=46–47 }}</ref>

These locally abundant grasshoppers inhabit a wide range of habitats, from [rainforest](/source/rainforest)s to dry open areas and lowlands to highlands.<ref name=PaulaRomao2017/><ref name=FrancaRocha2015>{{cite journal| last=França Rocha | first=M.d. | display-authors=etal | year=2015 | title=Spreading of heterochromatin and karyotype differentiation in two Tropidacris Scudder, 1869 species (Orthoptera, Romaleidae) | journal=Comp. Cytogenet. | volume=9 | issue=3 | pages=435–450 | doi=10.3897/CompCytogen.v9i3.5160 | pmid=26312132 | pmc=4547036 | doi-access=free }}</ref> Both adults and nymphs feed on many types of plants and decaying matter, and (especially ''A. collaris'') are sometimes regarded as [pests](/source/Pest_(organism)) because of the considerable damage they may cause to agricultural crops, tree plantations and ornamental plants.<ref name=PaulaRomao2017/><ref name=FrancaRocha2015/>

==Taxonomy==
''Tropidacris'' and the closely related ''[Titanacris](/source/Titanacris)'' form the tribe [Tropidacrini](/source/Tropidacrini), but the latter genus, which generally is restricted to forest canopies of South and Central America, is not as well known.<ref name=Descamps1985>{{cite journal| last1=Descamps | first1=M. | last2=Carbonell | first2=C.S. | year=1985 | title=Revision of the Neotropical Arboreal Genus Titanacris (Orthoptera, Acridoidea, Romaleidae). | journal=Annales de la Société entomologique de France | volume=21 | issue=3 | pages=259–285 | doi=10.1080/21686351.1985.12278760 | s2cid=80821515 }}</ref> Unlike ''Tropidacris'', adult ''Titanacris'' are always mostly green (only some ''Tropidacris'' are mostly green) and have colorful wings that lack dark rear edge and spotting.<ref name=Descamps1985/>

There are three recognized species in the genus ''Tropidacris'':<ref name=speciesfile/>

*''[Tropidacris collaris](/source/Tropidacris_collaris)'' <small>(Stoll, 1813)</small> – blue-winged grasshopper or violet-winged grasshopper
*''[Tropidacris cristata](/source/Tropidacris_cristata)'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> – giant red-winged grasshopper
*''[Tropidacris descampsi](/source/Tropidacris_descampsi)'' <small>Carbonell, 1986</small>

Several additional species have been described, but these are now regarded as [synonyms](/source/Synonym_(taxonomy)) of the widespread and well-known ''T. collaris'' or ''T. cristata''.<ref name=Carbonell1986/> ''T. descampsi'' is poorly known with only a few confirmed [specimens](/source/Zoological_specimen) from the [Colombian Amazon](/source/Amazon_natural_region) and western [Brazilian Amazon](/source/Brazilian_Amazon).<ref name=Carbonell1986/><ref name=PaulaRomao2017/>

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Tropidacris collaris MHNTdos vol.jpg|''[Tropidacris collaris](/source/Tropidacris_collaris)''
File:Tropidacris cristata cristata MHNT vol.jpg|''[Tropidacris cristata](/source/Tropidacris_cristata)''
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q10704979}}

Category:Caelifera genera
Category:Romaleidae
Category:Taxa named by Samuel Hubbard Scudder

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tropidacris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropidacris) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropidacris?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.