Orthoptera: Acrididae

Identification
• Adults are 1-1¹/₂" long and have elongated hind legs for jumping. Most have fully developed wings and can fly.
• Nymphs are wingless and smaller than the adults. They also have elongated hind legs for jumping.

Damage
• Both the nymphs and adults eat the leaf margins and chew holes in the leaves of rhubarb, potato, cabbage, broccoli, swiss chard, iris, daisy, sunflower, and many other vegetables and flowers.

Management
• Most plants can survive moderate feeding damage.
• Insecticide applications, if needed, are effective.

Other Information
• Grasshoppers overwinter as clusters of eggs laid in undisturbed soil.
• Blister beetle larvae feed on these egg clusters.
• Grasshoppers in the Midwest are usually controlled naturally by a fungus, except in dry years.