Horse Lubber Grasshopper (Romaleidae)

This photo was taken near the Costa Rica Volcano Arenal.  I think, but not positive, it is a horse lubber (Romaleidae) grasshopper; just one of about 660 species of grasshoppers found in North America according to BugGuide.  What ever it is about 20 of them were doing a heck of a job devouring this plant in a garden at the Rural Methodist Center in northern Costa Rica.

Scientists who study and classify grasshoppers break the families down further into separate genera, with lubbers comprising seven. Each genus has at least one species.

Horse lubber grasshoppers belong to the species eques of the genus Taeniopoda.  In the United States they inhabit the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas with their range continuing through Mexico to Costa Rica.  The bright lines on the sides of their head resemble a horse's head with a bridle thus explaining their name eques which is Latin for horse.  They feed on shrubs and weeds in mostly desert areas.

Multi-Color Costa Rica Grasshopper

Sheryl and I were hanging around an open air cafe in the mountains of Costa Rica when this colorful grasshopper literally jumped into my viewfinder.  It left almost as fast as it got there and I felt lucky to have even gotten this shot.  The mountain jungle became very thick just beyond the cafe railing and I wasn't going hunting for this guy. 

Seventy-five per cent of the acridomorph fauna of Costa Rica is confined to the wet forest environment. This habitat also has a disproportionately large proportion of species which are of restricted distribution within the country or are endemic to Costa Rica or are flightless. The grasshoppers of dry forest, grassland and swamp habitats have in general the reverse properties: they include relatively few species and most of these are capable of flight and are widely distributed both within and outside of Costa Rica. The major factor influencing the long-term survival (or, conversely, the extinction) of the major part of the grasshopper fauna of Costa Rica is likely to be the preservation (or destruction) of the wet forest habitat.