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Grasshopper Site Highlights
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Welcome!

This website provides one of the most comprehensive sources of information on the biology, ecology, identification and management of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets in North America. It also contains information on non-target effects, current survey information, and decision support software. The site was produced by the USDA-ARS-Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab in Sidney, Montana, and several collaborators.

Note: We continue to post updates and additions to this section. Scroll to the bottom to get a link to a NEW "Short-Horned Grasshoppers" publication from Montana State University Extension, which provides insights to the damage, behavior and management of this pest species, currently in outbreak status in much of Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota.

Site Highlights:

Grasshopper Identification Guides and Species Fact Sheets - Several identification guides, keys and a naturalist's guide are provided to help identify grasshopper species throughout North America and to provide information on the biology and economic importance of individual species.  Fact sheets, with photographs, for 60 common species.

Android and iPhone Apps for Grasshopper Identification - Handy mobile phone Lucid key apps for field identification. Desktop app also provided.

Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers - An overview of grasshopper biology, ecology, anatomy, life cycles and surveys.

Grazing Management and Grasshoppers - Grazing management methods to help reduce grasshopper outbreaks.

Chemical Control Methods - New aerial and ground based techniques (RAATs) for reducing pesticide application rates, costs, and environmental concerns.
    
Grasshopper Management Information - Includes practical grasshopper management guides, USDA-APHIS grasshopper control program information, environmental side-effects of grasshopper control, and IPM and chemical control research reports.

Outbreak Information - Regional hazard maps for the Western United States and updated grasshopper and Mormon cricket outbreak field survey and forecast information.

APHIS' Grasshopper Integrated Pest Management User Handbook - Practical information on grasshopper control methods, environmental impacts, range management techniques, grasshopper ecology, outbreaks and modeling.

NPARL Grasshopper Management Research and Publications - An overview of grasshopper and Mormon cricket research being conducted at USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) and a list of grasshopper publications.

Bonus Content: March 29, 2022 Grasshopper Workshop - A discussion of potential grasshopper outbreaks in 2022 and management options for Montana and western North Dakota farmers and ranchers. (Outside link)

NEW! Bonus Content from the July 17, 2024 Sidney ARS-MSU EARC Dryland Field Day in Sidney, MT - This publication by Dr. Erika Rodbell, Extension Postdoctoral Agronomic Entomologist, MSU-Bozeman, shares information on pest short-horned grasshopper species with a focus on their damage, management and behavior. Dr. Lobdell participated in the 2024 joint ARS-MSU Dryland Field Day in Sidney, MT on July 17 with a discussion on grasshopper management. The tour was presented by Montana State University’s Eastern Ag Research Center (EARC) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab (NPARL). (For easier printing use this pdf and print letter-size, landscape orientation and two-sided.)

 

Friendly URL: https://ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/