GRASSHOPPERS

Grasshopper Facts
Grasshoppers hatch when temperatures reach 60-70 F. (15.5-21 C.). Hatching lasts 4-7 weeks,
the rate increasing with temperature. Peak hatch may occur a month after it starts. The hatch is
greater if the preceding fall was warm, dry and long, with more adults laying eggs longer.

Grasshoppers mature through 5 instar stages into adults, each instar involving a molt. An
instar lasts for about 10 days with adults formed after 50 days.

Half of adult grasshoppers are females, which can lay 8 or more egg pods that contain 20-100
eggs each, and eggs are not affected by winter, generally, because of a diapause stage. For
warm and dry conditions 200-400 eggs result for each female, and 8 grasshoppers / sq. yd. can,
even with 75% mortality to originals and hatchlings, multiply into 50-100 / sq. yd. the next year.

Young consume 14 times as much per day as a 3rd instar; destruction increases nearly 2.5 times
with each instar early treatment is obviously more cost effective. Grasshoppers consume
both dry and leafy forage with eastern versions tending more to leafy. Most seem to be
attracted to sources of protein: e.g., bran and other grasshoppers.

Ten adults / sq. yd. are economically damaging to rangeland. Smaller numbers can damage
cropland/gardens, depending on crop type and age. A classic study showed that 6-7 adults / sq.
yd. on 10 acres of pasture ate as much as a cow. By the time populations start peaking (mid-
June to mid-July), hoppers are almost impossible to control. They will eat tree bark & leaves,
window screens and any fabric outdoors, fence posts, etc.

Grasshoppers dont necessarily mature where they are born. Egg pods are laid in grassy areas
where the sod is unbroken (fend rows, roadsides, grassy ditches) such areas with sandier soil
and southern exposure (warmer) are best for egg laying. Because of open and often broken
ground, grasshoppers will leave a weedless grain field or cultivated garden (sometimes even an
alfalfa field) and find a grassy area to lay eggs. When the hatch becomes too large to be
supported by local vegetation, grasshoppers migrate to other food; e.g., the grain field or
garden. Treating young grasshoppers in hatching areas when they are concentrated and easily
killed, and before migration really begins to crops, is the best way to attack them.

Clear-winged grasshopper eggs are laid in the fall and hatch the following spring. Each female
lays an average of eight egg pods (about 175 eggs) usually in unbroken sod. The short
vegetation of dry, mowed roadsides and sparse, over-grazed pastures is especially favored for
egg deposition.

Grasshoppers are attracted to monocultures and do not like oats or peas. But they will hatch
there, eat a bit then migrate to a more attractive crop if it is available.

A region which had a grasshopper problem in a previous year will probably have an infestation
the next year decline is generally gradual over several years. Weather will affect the current
years hatch, but much of the previous years problem is passed on to the next year. If there is
one egg capsule per square meter, expect a severe outbreak the following year. Cultivating is
the best way to destroy egg capsules (In years past, fire was also used).

Protecting Crops in Small Plots: Barriers & Repellants
Mowed Strip: the First Line of Defense
A relatively clean strip (mowed or grazed very heavily) of 10 20 between a hatching bed
and a crop will help slow grasshopper migration. Grasshoppers (wingless nymphs and older) are
reluctant to enter the strip because it has no food, and they are very exposed to predators. A
wider strip is better (20), especially if the adjacent hatching bed is large. Also reduces egg-
laying as hoppers prefer to lay eggs in a grassy area.

If invasion is already in process, protect crop in the grow area with repellants and with secure
row cover before creating mowing strip or hoppers will be driven from grass into crop.

Alternatively, Leaving areas of tall grass uncut can help by giving hoppers food and a refuge.
You can then use the treatment of your choice to get at them in the contained area. (This works
best if using controls like EcoBran).

Poultry Control
Can use chickens, ducks (especially Muscovy) and Guinea hens with electro-netting and a little
chicken tractor in the mowed or grassy moat. They will greatly reduce nymph hoppers and
thrive on the protein.

Diatomaceous Earth
Somewhat effective. Mix one cup (240 ml) of diatomaceous earth with one gallon (3.8 l) of
water along with two tablespoons (30 ml) of blackstrap molasses. Spray this onto the plants
ensuring complete coverage. Diatomaceous earth looks like talcum powder, but to the insects it
is like broken glass.

Row covers can be effective until grasshopper population explodes, then they will eat their way
through the fabric.

Garlic Oil Repellant (small batch can be increased)
3 ounces of minced garlic cloves
1 ounce of mineral oil
Combine & let soak for 24 hours or longer. Strain.
In another container mix together:
1 tsp fish emulsion fertilizer
16 oz water
1T castile soap
Slowly combine fish emulsion water with the garlic oil. (for large amounts use drill mixer in 5
gallon bucket). Kept in a sealed glass container this mixture will stay viable for several months.

To use: Mix 2 tablespoons of garlic oil with 1 pint of water and spray.

Neem Oil (both repellant and retardant)
Made from the seed of the Neem (azadirachta indica), a shade tree native to India. The active
compound azadractin is extracted using water, alcohol or petroleum ether. Neem has different
effects on insects: a repellant, an anti-feedant, an IGR (insect growth regulator), an ovicide,
mildewcide and miticide. It also sterilizes some species. It Is approved for use on food crops in
Canada.

For grasshoppers it should work as an IGR on the nymph stages of hoppers however you must
be judicious in your spray program to get good control. Some growers report that plant sprayed
with neem are not eaten by hoppers. They actually land on the plants, but have not been
observed to eat them at all. Other studies indicate no antifeedant success when using neem.

Repellant and Barrier Crops

Planting these crops around and throughout the garden at beginning of next season will help
repel hoppers:
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)
Cilantro
Calendula

Other Traps & Baits & Controls
Sink glass jars into the soil. Fill to the halfway point wit a mixture of 10 parts water to 1 part
of molasses. The hoppers are drawn to the sweet smell of the molasses, they dive in and
drown. Clean traps as needed. Place a thin layer of oil (hoppers prefer cheap canola oil) on
top to protect bees and mosquitos. Only effective in low to moderate infestation years.
Caffeine spray. Brew coffee 5 to 10 times stronger. Cool and spray as is.
Hot pepper spray using jalapenos, habaneros or any HOT pepper to repel the adults. Include
some castile soap in with this.
Insecticidal soap mixed with beneficial nematodes directly on grasshoppers in the evening
Sometimes pyrethrin will knock down nymphs in the first or second instar.
Black Strap Molasses: combine 4 ounces to one quart water. Spray directly on hoppers. This
will clog their pores so they cannot breath resulting in their death.
Henbit: A tea made from this weed and used as a spray sometimes repels hoppers
Biodynamic peppering (works best on land where other preps are used, esp BD 500 & 501)

Nolo Bait & EcoBran
Nosema locustae (Semaspore in the USA & Nolo Bait in Canada) is allowable for organic
growers in Canada. It is a microsporidium fungi that affects digestive system of grasshoppers.
Nolo Bait is sold either already mixed with bran meal or ready to mix. It is only effective on
hoppers up to about (3rd or 4th instar). Doesnt work on 4th instar or later or on adults. If
applied about the 3rd instar, it has time to work before damage becomes significant.

Most effective in cool, spring season. Once weather warms, it is not effective. Nolo Bait must be
refrigerated until used. It has a short life span and is not effective once expired.

Apply 1-2 pounds per acre. Apply to hatching areas (the grassy areas) particularly those with
southern exposure and more-sandy soil. It will kill about half those in the hatching area and
infect most of the remainder. These infected survivors eat very little as Nolo Bait slows their
consumption. Hoppers being of a cannibalistic nature will eat the dead parasite-infected
bodies, which starts a chain reaction passing the parasite from generation to generation. Nolo
Bait increases cannibalism since it weakens grasshoppers, making them easier to catch. Nolo
Bait causes reduced egg laying and those that are laid are infected. The disease carries over to
the next year via the infected overwintering egg cases and infected cadavers. Certain species of
hoppers may expire within several hours after treatment whereas others may take 4-6 weeks to
be affected. Observe after application. You can make a second application after 4 weeks. A
single treatment can last for several years.

Where to Obtain Nolo Bait
Advance Nursery, Grand Forks, BC PH: 250-442-5291

Ontario order online takes 2 wks
http://www.naturalinsectcontrol.com/product.php?id=000000429

EcoBran Is another product that has been approved by some USA certifying bodies but not in
Canada. It is a bait product that contains 2% Sevin (carbaryl). It works in warm weather on adult
hoppers.

Large Plots: Control Through Cultivation
Tillage - Cultivation is probably the most effective cultural practice available to farmers for the
reduction of grasshopper populations. Tillage controls grasshoppers primarily by eliminating
the green plants on which grasshoppers feed.

However, tillage is of little value for the sole purpose of physically destroying grasshopper
eggs or exposing them so that they dry out or are eaten by birds and other insects. Excessive
tillage may also increase the risk of soil erosion.

Tillage to eliminate weeds from summer fallow fields during late summer and early fall will
discourage female grasshoppers from depositing their eggs in these fields. Grasshoppers
seldom lay eggs in clean summer fallow even when it has a heavy cover of trash. Similarly,
thorough cultivation of fields immediately after harvest will help discourage grasshoppers from
laying all their eggs within the field.
It is advisable to complete early spring tillage or chemical fallow to eliminate all green growth
on stubble fields before the grasshoppers have hatched. If no food is available for the young
grasshoppers to eat when they hatch, they will starve. Early tillage also provides additional
benefits: it gives good weed control and conserves moisture at no extra cost.

Complete spring tillage before grasshoppers hatch to eliminate all green growth on stubble
fields that are to be in summer fallow. If no food is available when grasshoppers hatch, they will
starve to death because they are unable to move long distances to find food. Early tillage will
also give good weed control and conserve moisture at no extra cost.

If grasshoppers are present when tillage operations begin, elimination of all green plant
material in a field will probably not achieve adequate control. Once grasshoppers have fed and
developed to the second stage of growth (second instar), they usually are mobile enough to
move to adjacent crops when their food supply becomes exhausted.

Summer fallow that is not properly managed can be a major source of grasshoppers. Many
cases of growers applying insecticides six or seven times to a field border are a direct
consequence of improper grasshopper control on summer fallow.

Fall tillage to get rid of weeds from summerfallow during late summer and early fall will
discourage female grasshoppers from depositing their eggs in these fields. Grasshoppers
seldom lay eggs in clean summerfallow even when it has a heavy covering of trash. Similarly,
thorough field cultivation immediately after harvest will help discourage grasshoppers from
laying all their eggs in the field.

Tillage can be used as a last resort in fields where there are defined "hot spots," that is, where
the young grasshoppers are continuing to hatch in large numbers and continued chemical
applications are not desirable. In this situation, the tactic is to bury the eggs and hatching
grasshoppers deep enough so that the young hoppers cannot make it to the surface.

BIODYNAMIC PEST CONTROL (PEPPERING)
Full Moon Sun in the constellations Pisces (Mina) to Leo (Simha)
Burned and spread under a Zodiac sign that represents the element in which the insect pest
spends the maximum time in its life cycle;
i.e. fire, earth, air, water

Materials
Invading insect/pest (50 in number)

Preparation Process
1. Determine from the life cycle of the insect in question, where it spends the maximum time
(e.g. the mosquito spends the maximum time in water).

2. Determine an appropriate constellation/month*
i.e. Aquarius = air mid-Feb to mid-March
Pisces = water mid-Mar to mid-April
Aries = fire mid-Apr to mid-May
Taurus = earth mid-May to mid-June
 Gemini = air mid-June to mid-July
Cancer = water mid-July to mid-August
Leo = fire mid-Aug to mid-September

3. Collect 50 of the invading insects/pests (if none are around at the time for burning, save
some from when they are around).
4. Place these insects/pests in a tin.
5. Light a wood fire and place the tin in the fire.
6. Burn the contents till they are charred (carbonized).
7. Collect the ash and grind with a mortar and pestle for 10 minutes until smoothly ground.

* If the Moon is also in the same constellation the effect
will be multiplied; i.e. Sun and Moon in Taurus, etc.
As a rule:
Sun in Aries is best for berry borers.
Sun in Taurus is best for all hard-shelled insects.
Sun in Gemini is best for moths.
Sun in Cancer is best for snails and slugs, mosquitoes
and flies.

Application Process
1. Mix 10 gm ash with milk sugar or wood ashes
2. Mix well and sprinkle over mature insects/pests when they return to the area
OR
3. Potentize ash to D6 or D8
4. Mix 10 ml of D8 solution in 100 litres of water/acre
5. Spray over mature insects/pests regularly throughout the season


Other Resources (esp for field crops & alfalfa)
ATTRA USA best resource https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/viewhtml.php?id=136

Dalhousie U. (simple article)
http://www.organicagcentre.ca/NewspaperArticles/na_cushon_sept5_02.asp
Western Producer (tilled strips primarily) http://www.producer.com/2003/05/organic-
methods-for-tackling-grasshoppers-organic-matters/

One Oklahoma Growers Experience
(Houzz/Gardenweb/Garden Forums June 21, 2011)
Semaspore, NoloBait and other products that contain the biological agent Nosema locuste can
be very effective if applied during the cool season on very young grasshopper nymphs that are
in the early instars. Nosema locuste is most effective on grasshoppers that are 1/4" to 1/2" long
and less effective on older, larger ones. The older and larger they get, the less effective it is. It
also is most effective during cool weather and much less effective in warmer weather. I usually
buy Semaspore or Nolo Bait in March or early April, begin applying it as soon as I see nymphs
hatching out, and usually do the last application in mid- late May depending on how much the
temps have warmed up.

If you decide to buy any product containing Nosema locuste, be sure to check the product for
an expiration date. Nosema locuste has a fairly short life span and I have see stores selling
containers of these products that already have passed their Expiration Date. Once you buy it,
store the unused portion in the refrigerator to keep it fresh so it will be effective at least
through its expiration date.

I'll get to EcoBran in a minute, but want to go through other organic options first.

One of the best ways to control grasshoppers is to have free-ranging chickens or other poultry. I
have found this to be pretty effective. However, it is most effective in a smaller, more confined
area and less effective on acreage. If you live on acreage, especially acreage surrounded by
rangeland, you may find poultry to be much less effective because (a) rangeland areas can
produce, support and shelter more grasshoppers` than your poultry can eat; (b) predators that
free range may eat your poultry (a serious issue for us on our property); and (c) some poultry
destroy your plants by digging and scratching around them or pecking the tomatoes or peppers
and do more damage than the grasshoppers might. I think poultry works best if you build a
fenced, grass 'moat' around the garden and confine them there. Then the hoppers get eaten as
they're coming across the 'moat' to reach your vegetables. Some cats and dogs catch and eat
grasshoppers too, but I wouldn't rely on them for pest control.

I've had a reasonable amount of luck in some years with some old folk remedies. One of these
is to mix some liquid molasses with water and place it in quart jars (half-filled with the
water/molasses in it) in the garden. The grasshoppers go into the jars to drink the sweetened
water and then drown in the water. This works pretty well in average years, but not so well in
bad years with high numbers.

I've also had a reasonable amount of luck dusting plants with all-purpose flour. It gums up their
mouth and makes it hard for them to feed. I don't know if it really kills them, but it made them
leave my garden. I hated the way it made the plants looked, and if you had dew or light rainfall
get on the foliage, it gummed up the leaves which might be bad for them. I also hated the way
it looked and only used it that one summer. I think it might have worked, but not well enough
for me to do it again. I also had a lot of foliar disease issues before I applied the flour to the
plants, and none prior to that, so I blamed the foliar diseases (fairly or not) on the flour.

You can spray with Kaolin clay in the form of Surround WP. Will it work? I don't know. Some
folks say it does, some say it doesn't. I think it is one of those things you have to try and see if it
works for you in your garden and in your weather conditions. A lot of people only use it on
things that are easy to hose off, like tomatoes or plums, for example, because it would be quite
annoying, for example to wash it off of beans. It might be easier to wash off greasy beans than
regular beans.

Now, about the EcoBran. It is not organic nor is it approved for use in "Certified Organic"
agricultural programs. EcoBran is a bran product that contains 2% Sevin. Because it is in a bait
form, it only harms insects that ingest the bail so it is much less likely to hurt beneficial insects
(they tend to eat other insects, not plant parts like bran) and for that reason, I bought some to
try this year. I haven't tried it yet. I've been waiting for the wind to settle down. Since a slight
chance of rain is in our forecast this afternoon and tonight, I might put some out tomorrow. If
I'd put it out during the last couple of weeks, it would have blown clear to OwieBrain's house in
Missouri.

I have pretty good success with Semaspore or Nolo Bait in March through May, so see relatively
little grasshopper damage during those months. However, as little grasshoppers become big
grasshoppers and as big grasshoppers progress to the migratory behavior that helps them
survive, I see increasing amounts of damage. By July of a bad year, the grasshoppers are
present in heavy numbers and it doesn't matter what you do. Even if you kill them all today,
more migrate in tomorrow. It is a constant battle through about the end of August. It is worse is
hot and dry years. (I know every summer in Oklahoma is hot and most of them are dry, but the
hotter and drier it gets, the worse the grasshoppers become.) Face it, by mid-summer our
landscapes and gardens are a green oasis in a sea of brown rangeland. (That might not be as
true for folks in cities, but it is true for those of us in rural areas.) If you are a grasshopper who
likes to eat green stuff, where are you going to go? To the green oasis, of course.

Grasshopper populations cycle up and down. Last year was a tremendously bad year, and I was
hoping it was the peak of the cycle and that they'd be less bad this year. I'm not sure if that is
what's happening though. They seem really bad this year here where I live, so maybe they are
as bad as last year or even worse than last year. Time will tell. Their population is increasing
daily and they are eating holes in the leaves of my lemon balm, basil, catnip, southern peas,
okra, green beans, cucumbers, corn, etc. That's why I bought the EcoBran. It is hard to find, and
it was back-ordered for a couple of months and I was beginning to worry it wouldn't get here in
time.

I'm hoping to spread the EcoBran in a 20' wide band alongside our southern property line, as
tall rangeland lies just over the fence from us on that side. That land is never mowed and only
part of it is ever grazed, so it is a grasshopper haven. They then migrate into our property from
that grassland and they always destroy the stuff I have growing along the fenceline first, so it is
the obvious choice for the use of EcoBran. I also likely will apply a 10-20' band of it around the
outside of the garden fence. I really don't want to use it 'inside' the veggie garden, but I will if I
have to. However, I'll be selective about where I put it. Since I don't use pesticides as a rule (I
consider myself 98% organic), I'm used to picking cherry tomatoes or sugar snap peas and
eating them as I work. Using EcoBran in the garden could ruin that activity for me. Alright, I
know the world wouldn't end if I had to pick a bowl of cherry tomatoes and wash them before
eating them, but it wouldn't be the same as picking and eating a handful as I walk by the plants
while I'm working out there in the garden.

I generally order Semaspore from Planet Natural, and they also were the source for the EcoBran
I purchased. I've bought organic supplies from Planet Natural for years, and I'll confess I was a
tiny bit irritated when EcoBran showed up in their catalog. However, being a realist, I accepted
the fact that even organic growers need "something" that works on grasshoppers during the
hot season (since Nosema locuste products do not), and since EcoBran is formulated as a bait
and has only 2% Sevin, it is the most ecologically-responsible product for a person to use. So, I
got over being irritated. Still, for a couple of years I've resisted buying it and using it. Last year,
though, the grasshoppers migrated onto our property in astoundingly huge numbers (every
step that I took, as many as 10-15 of them would fly up into the air). In a matter of 2 or 3 weeks
they had stripped almost every plant in our Peter Rabbit Garden of all foliage. I had completely
naked bean plants and tomato plants. Then, the hoppers migrated to the big garden for their
encore performance. So, I have EcoBran (44 lbs of it!) and I intend to use it.

When we moved here in 1999, the grasshopper population was at a peak or maybe the first
year post-peak and I had a lot of trouble. Then, their population cycled downward before
peaking again in 2003. (It was a hot, dry year. I think we had maybe 18-20" of rain that entire
year, so it was the perfect weather for them.) That year, they ate the fiberglass window
screens, bark off young fruit trees, fruit off the trees, everything that was still green including all
the vegetables and lots of the shrubs, and even nibbled at the rag rugs on our wraparound
porch and the throw pillows on the porch swing. They were bold and were land on you and
start chewing on your cloths. I swear I think they did that just to spite me because they knew I
hated them so! That's when I started using Semaspore and Nolo Bait religiously in the spring,
but it still doesn't help in the hot season.

I also think at times that I don't realize how effective the Semaspore may have been. Even when
I am "still" seeing grasshoppers, maybe I am not giving it full credit for greatly reducing their
numbers even though it doesn't entirely eliminate them. In 2003, all the ranchers around us
went nuts and sprayed, sprayed, sprayed pesticides heavily in an attempt to control the
hoppers. However, it didn't seem effective since more of them kept migrating in from
elsewhere. What did happen is that all the bluebirds died and we didn't see another bluebird
here for about 3 years. One of my farmer neighbors was frustrated after all that spraying
because he felt like all the spraying hadn't even helped protect his pastures from grasshopper
devastation. He kept asking me why I didn't have "lots" of grasshoppers like he did, but I
thought I had tons of them. It wasn't until I went to his place to see his garden that I realized he
had 10 times as many hoppers as we did, and his house is less than a mile from our house. So,
even though I thought the Semaspore hadn't been very effective that year and also that the
guineas and chickens weren't "doing their job", I did learn that our anti-grasshopper measures
must have been working pretty well since we didn't have as many as he did. Still, we had too
many.

The ultimate solution likely is to grow everything under floating row covers, but with the
amount of wind we have here, I think it could be very hard to keep them in place. I have the
floating row cover material in my barn and may resort to using it if I have to. However, in recent
weeks we've had some very gusty wind and I don't know that floating row covers would stay in
place, even with U-shaped landscape fabric staples holding them down, in the kinds of wind
we've been seeing. Plus, for the veggies that rely on insects for pollination, you can't leave
them covered up all the time anyway unless you're going to hand-pollinate your crop.

There, I think I've told you about all that I know about grasshoppers. Well, I know more, but I've
said enough. We have grasshoppers in every color of the rainbow here, and if they were not so
annoying and so destructive, I'd probably not mind them too much.

Dawn, Oklahoma