Third Edition
Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station
Bulletin 912 - February 2002
Robert E. Pfadt - University of Wyoming

Nearly 400 species of grasshoppers are known to inhabit the 17 western states. Of these, approximately 70 species are common enough to be encountered regularly by persons scouting for damaging populations. For personnel who lack taxonomic experience, identifying the nymphs and adults of these common grasshoppers is difficult. Yet the need for considering species in control decisions becomes ever more urgent. Control officials need to know both the identities and the densities of species composing infestations to assess accurately the economic threat and select prudent solutions.

This Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers provides the scout with color pictures of the nymphs, adult male, and female, and illustrations and descriptions of distinguishing characters allowing comparisons with unknown specimens that need identification. The guide also contains distribution maps of species, brief accounts of their seasonal cycles, feeding and reproductive behavior, and habitat preferences. All may serve as additional clues to the identities of specimens as well as provide pertinent information for grasshopper management.

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