Is there anything grasshoppers won't eat?
Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson
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| This colorful rainbow grasshopper (Dactylotum bicolor) can be easy to find in desert grassland areas, but is not considered to be an economically important pest in our region. Photo credit Alan Levine (Wikimedia Commons). |
A few people have recently
reported what appears to be grasshopper damage on a variety of landscape and
garden plants. The telltale signs are 1) ragged, chewed holes in leaves, stems,
and fruit, and 2) droppings (aka frass, insect excrement) that look kind of
like little black ants without legs. Please note that circular, smooth holes on
the edges of leaves are more likely to have been made by leaf-cutter bees, and
are a welcome sign in my garden!
“A Manual of the Grasshoppers of New Mexico” is a great NMSU online tool for all things grasshopper that includes ecology, economics, and a history of these interesting pests in New Mexico (https://aces.nmsu.edu/academics/hoppers). Also included are species descriptions, distribution maps, and photos. |
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Cottonwood leaf damaged by leaf-cutter bee. Photo from NMSU's "Pocket Guide to the Native Bees of New Mexico" (https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/bees). |
The following is a reprinted column by Dr. Curtis Smith from August 24, 2002.
Question: I have always wondered about the grasshoppers
that attack my garden most years. Is there anything I can plant that they won't
eat?
Answer: Dr. Carol Sutherland, NMSU Extension Entomologist
[retired in 2021], told me that there is a grasshopper to eat any plant you may
grow. Not all grasshoppers eat all plants; some are very specific, while others
are not picky eaters at all.
She says that there are at least
160 described species in New Mexico (implying that there may be even others yet
to be discovered and described). A couple of these prefer to eat weeds and
could be considered beneficial. Of the remainder, about 40 species have the
potential to become major pests. Some of these prefer grasses, others broadleaf
plants, and some both. The extent of the problems we have in our landscapes
depends on which species are present (usually more than one), how many of them
are present, and what they prefer to eat. I find the following statement from
Dr. Sutherland very informative. “Short of rebar, steel, aluminum,
adobe, rock, asphalt, and concrete, I can’t think of many substances that
will be little damaged consistently by grasshoppers of one kind or another.” So, in one year we may have fewer problems; in another
year, we may have more problems.
Dr. Sutherland also explained
that the weather affects the numbers of grasshoppers. Drought, especially in
the early spring, can greatly reduce the grasshopper population, and thus the
damage done by grasshoppers. When we irrigate, we help the grasshoppers avoid
the spring drought dilemma. Careful and limited irrigation of landscapes may
help, but the river valleys are also escape valves for grasshoppers. If they
can make it to the valleys, they will survive and be able to migrate to our
gardens.
There are chemicals to use, but their effect is limited
by the fact that grasshoppers are migratory. Adult grasshoppers have wings and
can fly into our gardens. So, after we kill some, new grasshoppers arrive to
continue eating our garden plants. Some people prefer the insect diseases that can be
purchased as biological control for grasshoppers. These are effective with some
species, but not all species. Some gardeners claim great success using guinea
fowl, turkeys, and other birds that eat grasshoppers. Unfortunately, some birds
(biological grasshopper control agents) also eat garden plants.
Grasshoppers are a difficult
problem for gardeners in our area. For the very adventurous gardeners, Dr.
Sutherland states that grasshoppers are edible and highly nutritious. I think
that is good information for the guinea fowl (I am not yet ready to eat
grasshoppers).
Extra note
from Marisa: A friend once made “hopper poppers” by stuffing jalapeños with
grasshoppers and cheese before roasting them. If you try them, please post pics
on social media and tag me (@NMDesertBlooms).
- Grasshopper Control in Gardens and Small Acreages, Colorado State Extension, "... Many birds, notably horned larks and kestrals, feed heavily on grasshoppers..."
Question: How do you get rid of grasshoppers? They are devouring everything but my weeds. Most of the gladiolus flowers never got the chance to open. Now the grasshoppers are starting on my vegetables. Is it too late?Answer: Grasshoppers are a yearly problem in New Mexico. If they don't cause problems for you in a given year, rest assured that someone is having problems. ...Since grasshoppers are capable of migrating from location to location, they are especially problematic. They begin in open land where the eggs were laid. First they feed on grasses and weeds, then when these are gone, they migrate to our gardens. Insecticides can be used to kill grasshoppers, but when used on a limited area such as a private garden or landscape, the effect is minimal. Insecticides will kill them, but new ones migrate in, eat the dead grasshoppers, then proceed to eat our plants..,
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For more gardening information, visit the NMSU Extension Urban Horticulture page at http://desertblooms.nmsu.edu/ and the NMSU Horticulture Publications page at http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/. Find your local Cooperative Extension Office at https://aces.nmsu.edu/county/.
Marisa Y. Thompson, Ph.D., is the Extension Urban Horticulture Specialist in the Department of Extension Plant Sciences and is based at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas.
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