316 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1952 



LIVING GRASSHOPPERS ON THE GLACIER 



Until 1949 nothing unusual was known about living grasshoppers 

 on Grasshopper Glacier. Forest rangers report finding grasshoppers 

 and other winged insects alive on the snow field each summer (F. C. 

 Curtiss, letter of Sept. 3, 1952) . On August 14, 1922, Dr. Parker 

 found many flying insects on the snow of the glacier, including a live 

 specimen of Pardalophora haldemannii (Scudder), a widespread 

 grasshopper common in both Montana and Wyoming. It was typical 

 of species occurring at lower elevations of the surrounding area. That 

 grasshoppers should occasionally be found at high altitudes on snow 

 is not remarkable. Caudell (1902) recorded them, taken in 1901 

 from snow at the summit of Pikes Peak, Colo. Darrah (1951, p. 101) 

 described a striking instance of grasshoppers on snow fields in valleys 

 near the headwaters of the St. Vrain River, at the foot of Longs Peak, 

 Colo., witnessed by a geological-survey party headed by Maj. J. W. 

 Powell. On that occasion, August 23, 1868, they saw grasshoppers 

 numbed by the cold so numerous on snow fields that they "literally 

 could have been gathered in wagonloads." Two bears were feeding 

 on the grasshoppers. 5 



As to the occurrence of insects on the surface of glaciers, Russell 

 (1897, pp. 13-14), after mentioning how pebbles, part of the morainic 

 debris on the ice, become warmed and melt holes into which they 

 sink, states, "Leaves are frequently blown far out on glaciers and, 

 becoming warmed by the sun, sink into the ice in the same manner as 

 the pebbles already referred to, and even insects, especially butter- 

 flies, are conspicuous in such localities." 



On August 1, 1949, Dr. Parker, accompanied by David G. Hall 

 and Frank T. Cowan, hiked up to the glacier hoping to gather samples 

 of the preserved grasshoppers. Unfortunately, little historic material 

 was taken, but attention was attracted to something else— live grass- 

 hoppers on the snow. Since time was short, it being important to 

 leave before darkness fell, only about 30 specimens were collected. 

 Dr. Parker has estimated, however, that there was about one grass- 

 hopper to every 20 square yards of snow in the area visited, and that 

 several hundred specimens could have been taken. Because of the 

 inhospitable character of the surrounding terrain, and the way the 



8 A newspaper account originating in Greeley, Colo., in 1934 stated that large deposits 

 of grasshoppers had been discovered imbedded in snow and ice on Longs Peak in Rocky 

 Mountain National Park, Colo. According to a pioneer resident, the source of the grass- 

 hoppers is explained by swarms which in 1876 flew from the plains and perished in the 

 snow and ice of Hallefs Glacier, north of Longs Peak. Bears fed on the dead insects, 

 preserved by natural refrigeration, for several years. The summer of 1934 was notice- 

 ably hot and dry in that area, aud it was assumed that the grasshoppers uncovered by 

 melting were the same ones reported to have flown to the Longs Peak region 58 years 

 before. No further information bearing on the accuracy of this conclusion is available. 



