Grasshoppers are known to farmers as pests that can arrive in the thousands, bringing to mind images of locusts swarming plains and wiping out fields of crops. However, not all species of grasshoppers are pests, just a natural part of the ecosystem.
Identification
Of the order orthoptera, grasshoppers are winged, often with horns. Because of their long, powerful legs and wings, most grasshoppers are very mobile and can travel long distances with one leap. While many have colorful wings, most grasshoppers are brown or green.
Types
Though closely related to locusts, grasshoppers found in the United States are not true locusts that cause the devastation found in Africa and Asia. Of the more than 700 species of grasshoppers in the United States, only 40 of them are known to produce outbreak levels that can do substantial damage to croplands.
Types of Pests
The most damaging crop species are the migratory grasshopper, big-headed grasshopper and white-whiskered grasshopper. The two-stripped grasshopper and red-legged grasshopper also have a major impact on cropland.
Desert Locust
The desert locust is the most destructive type of grasshopper, in fact known to be one of the most destructive insects in the world. Desert grasshoppers have plagued Africa, India and the Middle East since Biblical times, a swarm being capable of eating up to 3,000 tons of green plants in a day.
Types of Non-Pests
Some of the more common grasshoppers not known as pests are the club-horned grasshopper, velvet-striped grasshopper, brown-spotted range grasshopper and speckled rangeland grasshopper. In general, any grasshopper who has colorful wings while flying is not a pest.
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