-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Katydids (Order Orthoptera)

-Grasshoppers, Locusts, and Allies (Suborder Caelifera)

-Grasshoppers (Infraorder Acrididea)

-Pygmy Grasshoppers (Superfamily Tetrigoidea)

-Pygmy Grasshoppers (Family Tetrigidae)

-Subfamily Tetriginae

-Tribe Tetrigini

-Genus Paratettix

-Mexican Pygmy Grasshopper (Paratettix mexicanus)

The Mexican Pygmy Grasshopper (Paratettix mexicanus) is a small, cryptically coloured insect belonging to the family Tetrigidae, widely distributed from the southern United States through Central America. It's mottled grey, brown, or black coloration allows it to blend perfectly with the muddy or sandy shorelines of rivers, ponds, and marshes where it resides. These grasshoppers are semi-aquatic specialists, often found hopping along the water's edge where they feed primarily on algae, mosses, and fine organic detritus found in the damp soil.