EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Grasshoppers are sporadic pests in gardens. However, in some years large populations may build up in foothills and rangelands, especially after a wet spring, and then migrate into nearby gardens, often defoliating everything in sight.

Detailed explanation-2: -Crop pests, including seed eaters, herbivores, frugivores, and pathogens (e.g., insects, fungi, bacteria, and viruses), can result in reduced productivity, or total crop loss in worst case scenarios (Zhang et al., 2007).

Detailed explanation-3: -Grasshoppers are general feeders on grasses and weeds and often move to cultivated crops. Their populations vary from year to year. Crop damage is likely to be greatest in years when dry weather accompanies high populations. Drought conditions reduce natural vegetation, forcing grasshoppers to move to cultivated crops.

Detailed explanation-4: -Grasshoppers primarily damage wheat, alfalfa, soybeans, and corn, but during years of high populations, they will feed and seriously damage almost any crop, tree, shrub, and home garden. Grasshoppers do not like dense canopies and are most likely to feed on field edges and along grass waterways.

Detailed explanation-5: -grasshopper, any of a group of jumping insects (suborder Caelifera) that are found in a variety of habitats. Grasshoppers occur in greatest numbers in lowland tropical forests, semiarid regions, and grasslands. They range in colour from green to olive or brown and may have yellow or red markings.