Grasshopper Facts

About the grasshopper

Grasshoppers belong to one of the oldest living groups of chewing, plant-eating insects, going back around 250 million years to the early Triassic. Their short front legs grab food. Young ones hatch as nymphs, or hoppers, and molt five times, looking more like adults at each stage. They hear with an organ on the first segment of the abdomen and see with compound eyes plus simple eyes that sense changes in light.

Camouflage is their first defense. If spotted, many species flash brightly colored wings while jumping and flying a short way, and the rainbow grasshopper uses warning colors instead. Crowding and the right conditions can make some species change color and behavior and form swarms, at which point they are called locusts. Swarms in the millions can wipe out cereal crops, vegetables and pasture across wide areas.

Did you know?

• A grasshopper's hearing organ sits on its abdomen, not its head.
• Grasshoppers skip complete metamorphosis, growing through nymph stages instead of a pupa.
• Many predators eat both young and adult grasshoppers, and parasites and diseases affect them too.