Tropidacris

{{Short description|Genus of grasshoppers}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Romaleidae Tropidacris collaris 1.jpg

| image_caption = Tropidacris collaris, mating pair

| display_parents = 2

| taxon = Tropidacris

| authority = Scudder, 1869 * 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}}

| synonyms =

• Eutropidacris (Hebard, 1923)Hebard. 1923. Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 49:252

}}

Tropidacris is a Neotropical genus of grasshopper in the family Romaleidae.[http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1116266 Orthoptera Species File][http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/search/all/key/Tropidacris/match/1 Catalogue of life]{{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 }} They are among the largest grasshoppers in the world by length and wingspan, reaching up to {{cvt|14.5|cm}} and {{cvt|24|cm}} respectively.{{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 }} 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.{{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 }} The gregarious and flightless nymphs have bright aposematic colors and are presumed to be toxic;{{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 }}{{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 | page=e0237594 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0237594 | pmid=32817631 | pmc=7444530 | bibcode=2020PLoSO..1537594D | doi-access=free }} a researcher who tasted one noted that it was very bitter, similar to a monarch butterfly.{{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 }}

These locally abundant grasshoppers inhabit a wide range of habitats, from rainforests to dry open areas and lowlands to highlands.{{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 }} Both adults and nymphs feed on many types of plants and decaying matter, and (especially A. collaris) are sometimes regarded as pests because of the considerable damage they may cause to agricultural crops, tree plantations and ornamental plants.