EC03-1569 Grasshopper Identification Guide for Cropland Grasshoppers: Summer Feeding Species

Summer feeding grasshoppers can cause severe damage to nearly all crops when they are abundant in field borders. Identification of the grasshoppers present is important because only four species are likely to cause significant crop damage. These four species are spur-throated grasshoppers that have a rounded head and a spur between their front legs. They are more common in weed-infested field borders and weedy adjacent pastures, but will move to cropland after consuming most of the weeds. Summer feeding grasshoppers overwinter as eggs and hatch through much of May and June