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Red-legged Grasshoppers are primary consumers in the food web, feasting on crops as voraciously as the fowl that are trying to devour them.
The Red-legged Grasshopper flies as part of a swarm and when a swarm lands on a field of crops, it can decimate the field leaving the farmer with nothing to harvest. Soybeans, alfalfa, wheat, barley, and other grains are all part of this species' diet. For this reason, the Red-legged Grasshopper is considered an agricultural pest. It is found in wild, natural prairies also, but its appetite for human produce earned it an unsavory reputation.
In addition to its negative impact on food harvest, the Red-legged Grasshopper can carry immature tapeworms and other bird parasites inside them. When a quail or wild turkey eats an infected grasshopper, those internal tapeworms and parasites transfer to the bird's bloodstream and grow, infecting the bird. Grasshoppers have natural predators that help control their population in the wild. They also die from fungal and bacterial infections as well as parasitic nematodes.
Females lay their fertilized eggs in soil. The numerous eggs hatch the following spring and the nymphs start to feed. Nymphs are miniature versions of adults with less developed wings. After molting, nymphs mature into full-grown adults. This process takes about 3 months. Adults remain active until that coming winter. If the spring season sees heavy rainfall, many eggs do not hatch until drier conditions return. When a dry spring does come around, large outbreaks of the Red-legged Grasshopper follow and are difficult to control.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Orthoptera
Family:Acrididae
Genus:Melanoplus
Species:femurrubrum
Identifying Information
Scientific Name: Melanoplus femurrubrum
Other Name(s): Red-legged Locust
Category:
Grasshopper or Cricket
Size (Adult; Length): 15mm to 35mm (0.59in to 1.37in)
Colors: brown, black, white, red, pink, green, tan
Note: An insect's reach is not limited by lines drawn on a map and therefore species may appear in areas, regions and/or states beyond those listed above as they are driven by environmental factors (such as climate change), available food supplies and mating patterns. Grayed-out selections indicate that the subject in question has not been reported in that particular territory. U.S. states and Canadian provinces / territories are clickable to their respective bug listings.
Colors: brown, black, white, red, pink, green, tan
