A species of grasshopper unseen in Nebraska for over a century has reappeared.
The northern spur-throat grasshopper was, since 1893, thought only to live to the north and west of the state in the Black Hills, Rockies, and Canada.
That was until Mathew Brust, biology professor at Chadron State College, happened to find one near White Horse Creek outside North Platte.
“It was very cold water, roadside habitat,” he recalled. “You could access it really easy. A really high quality wetland fen.”
In other words, a perfect environment for the grasshopper. According to Brust, the species thrives around colder weather and colder water, odd for a summer insect. He became suspicious that the state’s unique areas might be hiding more of the unique species: namely the Sandhills and Pine Ridge regions.
“Both are unique in the Great Plains in that they have a lot of spring-fed ecosystems. Cool ground water,” he explained, “Comes to the surface, and actually can cool the area down by sometimes 10 degrees.”
That seemed enough for the resurgence of the insect. Brust has since discovered over 10 pockets throughout north-central Nebraska and the Panhandle. Interestingly, he’s observed, the grasshoppers in Nebraska are genetically distinct from their neighbors in the Rockies and the Black Hills.
“That means they’ve probably been here the whole time,” he said, “We probably just haven’t seen them.”
Brust cited a few reasons for their elusiveness. Private lands in the area are infrequently surveyed, and the Sandhills aren’t farmed, so the economic incentive for study simply isn’t there.
The “whole time” is almost uncomfortably accurate. As he mapped each colony, Brust overlaid them on the habitats of the state’s glacial relict fish populations; in other words, those that have been present since the Ice Age glaciers have retreated.
Wherever he found the fish, he’d find the hopper.
“It has everything to do with the cold water system,” he said, “That water is keeping the environment cold enough for that fish to survive.”
But those environments and the grasshoppers therein could be in danger if the state endures milder and milder winters.
“You know, there is cause for concern, especially as climate change keeps warming things up," he said. "These are already a cool weather species, they’ll probably become even more and more limited.”
Brust is also concerned that human intervention may cause some habitat destruction.
“We could see a change in land use, drainage of some habitat areas, and I’m especially concerned, here in Nebraska, about invasive grasses," he added.
The northern spur-throat eats only a handful of specific native plants.
However, Brust said the good news is that the species isn’t extinct, or even declining yet, and he’s hoping that its resurgence and growth can prove to be a bellwether for the state’s cold-weather ecosystems.
“The number of these wetland sites that I surveyed thoroughly versus how many are out there in the Sandhills, and how extensive they are, I’d bet there’s probably five to 10 times more out there than I accounted for," Brust said.