Altitudinal Variation in Thermal Behavior of the Grasshopper Circotettix rabula (Rehn & Hebard) from Central Colorado

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Abstract
This paper compares thermal relations of two populations of the grasshopper, Circotettix rabula, from a montane (3,100 m) and a piedmont (2,100 m) habitat in central Colorado. Montane grasshoppers demonstrated a signficantly lower minimum flying temperature, sexual display temperature, and maximum voluntarily tolerated temperature than their piedmont counterparts. Thermoregulatory performance, as indexed by the slope of the regression of body temperature on ambient temperature and correlation coefficients between these two variables, was found to be significantly better in montane forms than in piedmont ones. Within both populations thermoregulatory ability and independence from ambient temperature conditions were significantly higher in sexually displaying C. rabula than in non-displaying grasshoppers. The repertoire of thermoregulatory behavior in C. rabula as well as the significance of these findings with respect to the thermal limitations imposed by high altitude environments are discussed.

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