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    The adult differential grasshopper is a large yellow insect with black markings. It is a severe pest of crops, including small grains, corn, alfalfa, soybeans, cotton, various vegetables, and deciduous fruit trees.

    differential grasshopper
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    While the admirable grasshopper can occur at moderate to high densities, its habit of feeding on a variety of grasses and its preference for somewhat disturbed areas suggests it is unlikely to cause damage in rangeland. It could potentially damage…

    admirable grasshopper
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    The plains lubber grasshopper is a large colorful species. In its favored habitat, the plains lubber grasshopper behaves as a beneficial insect by providing some measure of biological control of weeds. However, large populations…

    plains lubber grasshopper

Grasshoppers of the Western United States

This tool offers two separate keys to identify both adult and pre-adult stages of many of the most commonly encountered grasshoppers in the western United States. All species included are in the family Acrididae with the exception of one, Brachystola magna, which is in the family Romaleidae. The tool is designed for people with varying degrees of knowledge identifying rangeland grasshoppers, from the general enthusiast to research scientist. See the Which key should I use page if you need help determining whether your specimen is an adult or a nymph.