Helpful Facts About Grasshoppers

While animated movies such as "A Bug's Life" may have made grasshoppers look appealing, these insects have been around for centuries. Although the average lifespan of a grasshopper is only approximately 12 months, stories about the effects this species has had on humans dates to the 1700s. So even though the animated versions of this insect are inviting, we humans should remember that grasshoppers are an insect and would be happier without human contact.

  1. Don't Pick Them Up

    • Grasshoppers spit a brown liquid substance, commonly called "tobacco juice," if you pick them up. It does not contain tobacco; instead, it's a liquid from the grasshopper's digestive tract that is expelled as a defensive mechanism by the grasshopper. Although it is not harmful to humans, birds and other insects do not find it pleasing. After spitting out the liquid, the grasshopper will attempt to flee from your hands.

    A Destructive Insect

    • Grasshoppers feed on vegetation, such as plants, flowers, stems and even seeds, and some can eat up to 16 times their weight in a day. Grasshoppers have the capacity to create millions of dollars in damages to crops; large swarms of grasshoppers can leave a barren swath of land behind them. In the 1870s, these insects did such damage all the way from the Great Plains to Texas that they stripped thousands of trees completely of their leaves and bark.

    Move Quickly

    • Grasshoppers are fast-moving insects that can cover up to eight miles an hour. They have four legs and use the front two legs for walking and grasping their prey, while they use their back two legs for hopping. Some grasshoppers can jump 20 times the length of their bodies. In addition to using their legs as a means of transportation, they also have wings. Grasshoppers will take leaps, using their legs as a springboard to begin flying.

    Threatened Species

    • Entomologists, scientists who study insects, say that an estimated 10,000 species of grasshoppers exist. Of these 10,000, 46 species are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or ICUN, as either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. In addition, the ICUN Red List of Threatened Species lists two species of grasshoppers as extinct. Although thousands of species of grasshoppers exist, most are classified into two main groups, long-horned or short-horned, based on the length of their antennae or "horns."