Got a number of them and haven't got the heart to kill them. Do they have any natural predators? Thanks, Karen
Grasshoppers?
Birds, lizards, mice, cats...among a few.
Grasshopppers will eat your plants though...I don't like them.
I almost feel like the Pied Piper when I mow my lawn. There is always a small flock of birds bouncing around me catching grasshoppers that are trying to get out of the mower's way.
The birds show up as soon as the I start the mower - I haven't even gotten off the driveway and into the yard and they are there waiting!!!
~ Cat
I am sorry that you feel that way about grasshoppers. I have three different kinds of grasshoppers in my backyard and I don't mind them being there at all. Some of them are really pretty. I thought that I had heard that grasshoppers eat harmful insects in the garden. Is this incorrect?
Thanks,
Chuck
I think they are pretty too.
I agree with both lines of thought - grasshoppers out of control are so bad they are one of the biblical plagues (a locust is a migratory grasshopper), while grasshoppers in the garden in reasonable numbers are like the caterpillars - they eat, but they also bring diversity and interest. I have some scans from a few years back of Texas grasshoppers if you would like to see:
http://stephenville.tamu.edu/~fmitchel/insects/grasshop.htm
Predators in my yard, aside from me, are English sparrows and cardinals. Both are quite voracious and the cardinals will pursue grasshoppers into the underbrush. The attached picture is of a robber fly that nailed a pretty large grasshopper. This image is making the rounds on the internet right now and I hope the photographer, whoever he or she may be, does not mind me posting it.
Mostly grasshoppers are vegetarians, but they are also opportunistic in that if they get a chance to eat a little protein in the form of another insect, they will. This is usually something that has already died and they are just scavenging, but not always. There are a couple of big Neobarrettia katydids that are carnivores. See:
http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/g331a.htm
which contains the statement: "These katydids do not necessarily retreat when molested and will assume a threating pose with bright wings flared, mandibles opened wide, and spiny forelegs raised high. If given the opportunity, they may attack and draw blood--not your average katydid!" Distribution maps and the calls of these can be found at:
http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/331a.htm
and
http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/332a.htm
This website, the Singing Insects of North America, is truly incredible (to a bugologist anyway!) and if you would like to know whose song you are hearing, you can likely find it here:
http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/
FM
Dear FM,
Thanks for the informative site. I could tell that someone spent a lot of time preparing this message. I really appreciate it. Two of the grasshoppers I think I saw in my garden were covered by photos in the message. How do grasshoppers, katydids and preying mantises all fit in together? I enjoy all three of them in my small backyard but I imagine that if I had too many of them that I would lose any interest in them other than how to get rid of them. LOL
Thanks again,
Chuck
I think the nice, neat round holes in my plant leaves are courtesy of the grasshoppers. They drive me crazy because every step I take in the yard they fly up in my face. I was trying to figure out what kind this is, but all the pics I found were side views.
I have them in reasonable number (no more than a couple I know of at one one time) and I like them, but if I got too many I would try to get rid of them, and I do worry about my plants.
Well thank you all. I now feel much better about letting the grasshoppers live! Karen
yes lots of good info here