Annual grasshopper plague gets the jump on Highland Lakes
A differential grasshopper sits on the roof of a car in Marble Falls. This species is one of the most common in the Highland Lakes and tends to reach maturity around mid-July. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
Millions of grasshoppers are reaching maturity across Burnet and Llano counties, bringing the annual plague of summer insects to gardens and windshields in the Highland Lakes. This year’s swarm is particularly strong due to bountiful food sources attributed to a mild winter and spring rains.
“With all the rain we had (in the spring), we have a flush of vegetation, which is a lot of food for them,” Texas A&M University entomologist Wizzie Brown told DailyTrib.com.
Grasshopper eggs are laid in the ground in the winter and hatch in the spring. They can be destroyed by freezing temperatures and fungi that thrive in moist soil. However, the 2023-24 Central Texas winter was milder than usual, and while it rained throughout the spring, it wasn’t enough to keep the bugs’ numbers down.
Grasshoppers that hatch in the spring typically reach maturity around mid-July, especially the most common species in the Highland Lakes region: the differential grasshopper.
When food is plentiful and the weather mild, several generations of grasshoppers can emerge and exist concurrently, making their impact more noticeable.
“They do have overlapping generations spring through fall,” Brown explained. “They’re not hatching all at the same time.”
Grasshoppers are voracious eaters and can strip plants of their leaves and soft stems if left unchecked, but they do have preferences when it comes to food.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension horticulturists developed a list of plants preferred and not preferred by grasshoppers. They love peach trees, roses, liriope, and mondo grass. They tend to avoid Ashe juniper, crape myrtle, lantana, and Turk’s cap.
According to Brown, the spring is the best time to control grasshopper populations because the insects are still in their early life stages. Once they reach maturity, they can be difficult to kill because they have more robust bodies and can fly away to avoid poisons and other pest control methods.
Brown recommends using pyrethrin-, pyrethrum-, and spinosad-based insecticides for grasshopper control. She also said to treat your plants in the evening to reduce the poison’s impact on beneficial pollinator insects.
While grasshoppers can be a nuisance, they are also an abundant food source for birds, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals.
The variety of grasshopper species in the Highland Lakes have different life cycles, quirks, and qualities. The spring, summer, and fall bring a host of insects along with grasshoppers, like crickets, cicadas, and katydids, that create a seasonal symphony of chirps and drones.