Lg. green grasshoppers

This is the first year I have seen so many of these grasshoppers in my yard. I am wondering if that is what is eatting my brugmansia leaves so bad. Is anyone else having a problem with them?

Thanks, Patricia

Gee Patricia, I have never seen them here. I hope we do not have a new pest to deal with.

The plants I seem to see them on is my brugs. I thought it was slugs and Cats eating the leaves on my brugs, but now I am not so sure.

I have seen a few hop away as I water, not sure what damage they have done though. When my son owned a couple of dragon lizards, I used to catch them for feeding to them, made me feel good to get rid of the pests and the lizards got a free lunch. ☺

I've seen a few but haven't noticed any damage.

Well, maybe it isn't them eatting my leaves. I have also been picking off Cats. all summer, even after spraying for them.

I have never had them until this year. I have had a lot of damage to cannas, young banana and citrus leaves this year. I can't seem to catch the grasshoppers redhanded , but have caught them hanging out. I am not positive they are the only chewers, but I can't seem to catch anything in the act. I found some awfully large scat (for an insect) on my tibouchina plant, but no sign of the bug!

That is my problem, except for occassionally finding a catappiller, I can't actually see what is causing all the damage.

Patricia -- I think they are katydids -- I am seeing many many more than ever before, and larger.

Does it look like these?
http://www.cirrusimage.com/orthoptera_katydid.htm

~'spin!~

Okay, those look familiar! How do we send them on their way?

North Carolina State University says they seldom eat enough to "create economic damage".
http://henderson.ces.ncsu.edu/content/GT-Aug2006-Katydid

Maybe something else is de-nuding your plants? Or possibly it is the short-term population explosion... most of which are self-limiting...

What I do with brown grasshoppers is grab'em (with gloved hand, I'm a sissy) or swipe down with broom -- throw down on hard-ground or sidewalk hopefully hard enough to stun -- stomp with hard-soled shoe... or foot if you're Horseshoe!

I do not attempt to poison grasshoppers/locusts/katydids. They are SO appetizing to larger birds -- very notably mockingbirds -- so it would be just like poisoning birds. Do what you can to attract the birds, invite them to DINNER!

~'spin!~

Every year my brug and my basil get eaten alive by thin green caterpillars. They leave lots of holes in the middle of the leaves rather than the edges. I use bt to kill them in the spring and have had no trouble since. The brand I use is Safer.

That you all for your responses. I went outside real early this morning and found those ground slugs on some of my brugs as well as a few of those thin green catapillars. I guess that is what is doing the damage. I had been so proud of myself, thinking I had stayed on top of the spider mites this year. After being out of town the last 4 day's, I came home and found spider mites on at least 5 of my brugs. If it isn't one things it is another.

Crysal, Yes they do look like the katydids.

It is true that BT does not harm birds... Does it work on katydids? I thought only effective on things with a caterpillar-type larval stage... but what do I know... SORRY GARDENERME! I see you are not suggesting for katydids but have used it on cats/green-worms. I should read better! It does work for cutworm-type cats... You have to re-spray everyso often (read on package, but I *love* they found/developed it!

I'd forgotten about it. Used it regularly years I had petunias (they get some kind of cat-worm thingies that eats holes in the buds so they don't open).

For snails and slugs there is a type of iron sulfate (?) or some iron compound... Brand name might be Sluggo -- I think it sets up inside them like cement -- and only them, so okay for organic gardeners and even {I BELIEVE!! SOMEONE CONFIRM, PLEASE?} around pets.

It's funny how some years a certain kind of pest will be the bane of gardeners, other years you don't see it, but something else... Nature's cycles...

~'spin!~

editing to apologize/clarify about B.T.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2006 6:11 PM

I seem to have them all this year.

Here is a picture of katydid and (at least in theory) the hole it ate in a plumeria leaf.
http://www.plumeria101.com/problems/grasshopper.html

Yeah, I've seen probably 100 times as many katydids as other years... possibly the TOTAL from last 15 years! However, am seeing somewhat fewer (maybe half as many as normal?) brown grasshoppers/locusts -- and I don't think the KDs are doing as much damage as the big brown ones even though there's more of them... or else the plants are recovering faster, which might be true as I am watering a bit more with this continued HEAT! Gonna be 95F again today!

~'spin!~

I have only seen the katydid's in my yard and I have damage like seen in your pictures, but I think it is the little ground slugs that are doing the worse damage.

I have the katydids in my yard too but haven't seen any damage even though I've seen the katy's crawling all over the plants, so I think if you're seeing chewed up leaves it's probably somebody else.

I tend to agree with you ecrane3. I think most of the damage is from slugs. I am so bummed at having them this year since the last two years I hardly saw any. I guess they finally discovered that there is a yard in the neighborhood with good things to eat in it.