Daily Zoo Animal: #3, Plains Lubber Grasshopper.
Plains lubber grasshoppper Brachystola magna
This large western grasshopper eats a wide variety of plants and is considered a pest of sunflower and cotton, but it also likes the taste of ragweed and dandelion. It lives in the grasslands of the American west, thriving in disturbed landscapes and occasionally increasing in numbers to plague proportions. Unlike many other grasshoppers its wings are reduced and it cannot fly.
This individual is in the invertebrate zoo in "A Bird's World" exhibit.
On this day in 365 urban species: Another day off, as my Dad and I made a stop in Forks, Washington.