Aquatic Pygmy Grasshopper vs Salt Creek Tiger Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Aquatic Pygmy Grasshopper Salt Creek Tiger Beetle
Scientific Name Scelimena producta Cicindela nevadica lincolniana
Order Orthoptera Coleoptera
Family Tetrigidae Carabidae
Size 12-18 mm 10-12 mm
Habitat Rivers & Streams Rivers & Streams
Diet Herbivores Predators
Regions Southeast Asia Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States
Conservation Least Concern Endangered

Aquatic Pygmy Grasshopper

A remarkable semi-aquatic pygmy grasshopper with paddle-like hind legs used for swimming. It dives and swims underwater to feed on aquatic algae.

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Did You Know?

It is one of the very few grasshoppers in the world that can swim underwater, using its flattened hind legs as paddles.

Salt Creek Tiger Beetle

One of the rarest insects in the world, this small tiger beetle has dark olive-brown elytra with faint white markings. It is found only on saline mud flats along Salt Creek in Lancaster County, Nebraska.

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Did You Know?

With fewer than 500 adults estimated in the wild, it is considered one of the rarest insects on Earth, threatened by urban development around Lincoln, Nebraska.