Some grasshoppers and katydids on St. Martin have different color forms within the same species. Often, there is a green form and a brown form, as with this grasshopper. Studies of some species have found that the green form is more common in the spring, when vegetation is green, and the brown form is more common in the late summer, when grasses and other vegetation are dry and brown. I haven’t done enough research to know if we have a clear idea how the population of each form changes. I saw one paper that hypothesized that color form could be triggered by the length of the day. On the other hand, it would not surprise me if the same ratio of green versus brown grasshoppers are born throughout the year and the ones that survive tend towards the color that is most effective as camouflage at the time.
