Salt of Life: High Sodium Diets Produce Longer‐Jumping, Smaller Grasshoppers

Photo 1. An adult female differential grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis). Herbivores in the wild are often sodium limited. Photo credit: David Rintoul. Photo 2. Solitary grasshopper housing units in a climate chamber. Photo credit: Taylor Peterson. Photo 3. Grasshopper being held for eye and femur measurements. Grasshoppers on high salt diets tended to have larger eyes in proportion to their body size compared to grasshoppers on low salt diets. Photo credit: Taylor Peterson. Photo 4. Grasshopper in colony experiment participating in cannibalism of deceased colony member. Grasshoppers on low salt diets had higher cannibalism rates than those on high salt diets. Photo credit: Taylor Peterson. Photo 5. Jumping arena where grasshopper jump distances were measured. Grasshoppers on high salt diets jumped farther than those on low salt diets. First author Taylor Peterson is weighing grasshoppers in the background. Photo credit: Ellen Welti. These photographs illustrate the article “Dietary sodium levels affect grasshopper growth and performance” by Taylor N. Peterson, Ellen A. R. Welti, and Michael Kaspari published in Ecosphere. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3392.