Melanoplus spretus
| Rocky Mountain locust | |
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| Photo from the 1870s | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Caelifera |
| Superfamily: | Acridoidea |
| Family: | Acrididae |
| Subfamily: | Melanoplinae |
| Genus: | Melanoplus |
| Species: | †M. spretus |
| Binomial name | |
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†Melanoplus spretus Walsh, 1866 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus) is an extinct species of locust that ranged through the western half of the United States and some western portions of Canada until the end of the 19th century. Sightings often placed their swarms in numbers far larger than any other locust species, with one famous sighting in 1875 estimated at 198,000 square miles (510,000 km2) in size (greater than the area of California), weighing 27.5 million tons, and consisting of some 12.5 trillion insects – the greatest concentration of animals ever speculatively guessed, according to Guinness World Records.
Less than 30 years later, the species was apparently extinct. The last recorded sighting of a live specimen was in 1902 in southern Canada. Because a creature so ubiquitous was not expected to become extinct, very few samples were ever collected (though a few preserved remains have been found in Grasshopper Glacier, Montana). Since the disappearance of this species, North America is now the only continent without a major locust species, apart from Antarctica.
The Latin name Caloptenus spretus is reported in 1866 by B.D. Walsh to have been given to this species by "Mr. Uhler, without describing it", adding that "The name "spretus" means "despised", and refers apparently to its having been hitherto despised or overlooked by Entomologists". Walsh does not provide a description of the species, except for female wing length, as well as some aspects of biology, ecology, and control. In a later article, C. Thomas claims to be the author of this name (i.e., Caloptenus spretus). The first mention of Melanoplus spretus appears in 1887 in publications by S.H. Scudder. Although the name "Rocky Mountain Locust" was thought to have been given to this species following recovery of specimens washing off from Rocky Mountains glaciers in recent years, particularly from the Grasshopper Glassier, the name "Rocky Mountain Locust" was actually given to the species, while it was still extant, after it had been established that the true habitat and breeding site of the species is high on the Rocky Mountains. The species is reported to have descended from the Rocky Mountain to the prairie in large numbers only in certain years, particularly in dry seasons, following westward wind currents. Outbreaks usually lasted two consecutive years. Although a great number of eggs were laid on the prairie during outbreak years, individuals hatched from these eggs usually did not thrive, a condition that has been attributed to the lack of adaptation of this species to prairie habitats. (For literature used in this section, refer to, and to references cited in:)
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Wikipedia