Grasshopper & Katydid Nymphs

Grasshoppers and katydids can be a common but unwelcome sight in the backyard garden. These insects can be pests in the immature and adults stages, feeding on a variety of plants causing holes in leaves or consuming large parts of the plant foliage. Unfortunately, people often wait until it's late in the season to attempt to manage these pests and end up trying to manage the adults. This doesn't always result in the best management. Adults can not only walk or jump to get away from treated areas, but they have fully developed wings and can FLY. Immatures, or nymphs, do not have fully developed wings and cannot fly, so they are a better stage to target management strategies.

For grasshopper or katydid management, you can try natural products with active ingredients such as spinosad, neem, d-limonene, pyrethrum or rotenone. There are also many synthetic products with active ingredients such as cyfluthrin, permethirn, bifenthrin or carbaryl. Of course there are also non-chemical methods to try such as vacuuming up the critters or using row cover to protect your plants. Remember, manage these pests early when they cannot fly away!