In a short paper published recently in Entomological News (citation and link below) , lab PI Sam Heads and collaborator Yinan Wang described a fossil specimen of the extant differential grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis (Thomas, 1865) from the Late Pleistocene McKittrick tar pits of southern California, USA.
The adult male specimen is partially preserved in left lateral aspect in a large chunk of asphalt containing numerous other fossils, including abundant plant and arthropod debris, a horsetail stem (Equisetum sp.) and a hydrophilid beetle (Hydrophilus sp.). The comparatively large body size and structure of the terminalia (in particular the shape of the cercus) confirm the identification of the specimen as M. differentialis, making this the first tar pit orthopteran to be identified to species.
Heads SW, Wang Y (2013) First fossil record of Melanoplus differentialis (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Melanoplinae). Entomological News 123: 33–37. [PDF]