Metaleptea brevicornis, the clipped-wing grasshopper, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of grasshopper

Grasshopper

The grasshopper is an insect of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish it from bush crickets or katydids, it is sometimes referred to as the short-horned grasshopper...

 from North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Distribution

M. brevicornis is found in wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s across a large part of eastern North America, from the Great Lakes region

Great Lakes region (North America)

The Great Lakes region of North America, occasionally known as the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast , includes the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario...

 south to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Taxonomy

Carl Linnaeus described Metaleptea brevicornis in his 1763 work Centuria Insectorum

Centuria Insectorum

is a 1763 taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Johansson; which of the two men should be credited with its authorship has been the subject of some controversy. It includes descriptions of 102 new insect and crustacean species that had been sent to Linnaeus from...

under the name Gryllus brevicornis. The genus Metaleptea was erected in 1893 by Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl

Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl

Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl was a Swiss entomologist who specialised in Orthoptera.Von Wattenwyl was a Postmaster...

 to hold the "American species of the genus Truxalis Fabricius", including M. brevicornis. In 1897, Ermanno Giglio-Tos

Ermanno Giglio-Tos

Ermanno Giglio-Tos was an Italian entomologist.Giglio-Tos studied at the University of Turin from 1886 until 1896 under Michele Lessona. Later he was a professor at the University of Cagliari. He specialised in Diptera, Mantodea, Phasmatodea, Orthoptera and Blattodea...

 designated M. brevicornis as the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 of the genus Metaleptea, and included a second species, "Metaleptea minor", now treated as a subspecies of Eutryxalis filata. For some time, the genus contained only M. brevicornis, with two subspecies – M. b. brevicornis and M. b. adspersa – but the latter is now treated as a separate species, Metaleptea adspersa.