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Hopping Grasshoppers

JEFFERSON CITY - The number of grasshoppers in Missouri has hit a 10-year high - with possible damage to crops and gardens in the next two to three weeks.

"Grasshoppers are usually sort of a cyclic pest, and we're coming to their time," said Gene Munson, an extension entomologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Mike Brown, state entomologist, said the Agriculture Department has not received many complaints. Just "a few calls from people wondering why there are so many grasshoppers."

Grasshoppers lay eggs in the fall and normally hatch in June. This year the hatch was late, which could account for the unusually high numbers of the bugs, Munson said.

"Grasshoppers are sort of omnivores - they'll eat anything that's green pretty much," Munson said. The problem comes when those food stores, typically weeds and roadside plants, are dried up. This causes the grasshoppers to move to the nearest greenery - often a yard, garden, or field.

"It's typical in dry times for the grasshoppers to move into other green plants," Brown said.

"If it stays hot and dry for the rest of the season, they'll move into crops and we'll have problems," Munson said. The main crops that could be affected are corn, soybeans, and milo (sorghum).

"Really just about anything out there is a potential food source for grasshoppers - they're not picky," Brown said. He added that while there is potential to damage greenery, "plants can tolerate a certain amount of defoliation."

Pesticides should control the grasshoppers. But once the grasshoppers have reached maturity later in the season, they are bigger and more mobile, which makes them harder to control, Munson said. Larger amounts of pesticides are necessary to kill the bugs.

Brown recommends checking with the local authorities if in doubt about a yard, garden, or field. "It would be best to contact the local extension office for specific treatment recommendations," he said.

Munson's advice right now is for farmers to continue checking crops, especially soybeans, for grasshoppers if the weather stays hot and dry.