Zayante band-winged grasshopper [SEP] IUCN conservation status
once covered California's Central Valley and when the Santa Cruz Mountains formed, sand from the ocean floor was uplifted and created the sandhills ecosystem. The Zayante sandhills habitat supports plants and animals that are found nowhere else. It is one of the rarest ecosystems of California, and one of the rarest of the United States.
The Zayante sandhills ecosystem is not only home to the endangered Zayante band-winged grasshopper, but also to other unique species, many of which are on the endangered species list, including the Mount Hermon
Zayante band-winged grasshopper
The Zayante band-winged grasshopper ("Trimerotropis infantilis") is a species of insect in the family Acrididae. It is endemic to a small portion of the Santa Cruz Mountains in California.
Background and description.
The Zayante band-winged grasshopper is in the Order Orthoptera and Family Acrididae. It is known to be located only in Santa Cruz County, California within the Zayante sandhills, chiefly within a Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest. The area has little vegetation and is primarily