Grasshoppers in Oklahoma: Complete Identification, Risks & Control Guide

Feature	Details
Scientific Family	Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers)
Classification	Order Orthoptera, Suborder Caelifera
Size	1 to 3 inches depending on species (quarter-sized nymphs to finger-length adults)
Color	Green, brown, yellow, or olive with species-specific markings; many have banded hind legs
Lifespan	Adults live 1 to 3 months; full life cycle about 1 year (egg overwinter, hatch in spring)
Diet	Herbivorous: grasses, garden plants, crops, ornamentals, lawn turf
Active Season in Oklahoma	Spring through fall; peak populations June through September
Threat Level	Moderate for landscape and garden; severe during outbreak years
Common in OKC Metro	Very common, especially properties near open fields, pastures, and agricultural land

Oklahoma sits in the heart of North American grasshopper territory, and homeowners across the OKC metro see these insects every year from late spring through the first frost of fall. Grasshoppers are not just a rural or agricultural problem. In warm, dry years, populations explode across open land and then spill into suburban neighborhoods, where they strip garden plants, chew through flower beds, and leave lawns looking ragged. Oklahoma’s mix of rangeland, agricultural fields, and suburban development creates a perfect corridor for grasshoppers to move from open country into residential landscapes. OSU Extension regularly documents grasshopper outbreaks across central Oklahoma, and in severe years, populations can reach densities of 20 or more per square yard, enough to cause visible defoliation across entire neighborhoods. Alpha Pest Solutions serves homeowners and businesses across the Oklahoma City metro with yard treatments that target grasshoppers as part of our general pest control program.

Identifying Grasshoppers in Oklahoma

Grasshoppers are medium to large insects with powerful hind legs built for jumping. Adults range from 1 to 3 inches in length depending on the species. The body is elongated and somewhat cylindrical, with a large head, prominent compound eyes, and short antennae that are always shorter than the body length. This short antenna length is the quickest way to distinguish grasshoppers from crickets, which have antennae longer than their bodies.

Most grasshoppers in Oklahoma are some combination of green, brown, tan, olive, or yellow. Many species have distinctive markings on the hind legs, wings, or thorax. When disturbed, grasshoppers jump powerfully and may fly short distances, sometimes revealing brightly colored hind wings that are hidden at rest. Their front wings (tegmina) are narrow and leathery, while the hind wings are membranous and fan-shaped. Nymphs look like smaller versions of adults but lack fully developed wings, showing only small wing pads that grow larger with each molt.

Grasshoppers have chewing mouthparts designed for cutting and grinding plant material. You can often identify grasshopper feeding damage by the irregular, ragged edges left on chewed leaves, which differs from the clean, round holes left by beetles or the skeletonized pattern left by caterpillars.

Grasshopper vs. Cricket

Grasshoppers and crickets are both in the order Orthoptera and share the characteristic large hind legs for jumping, which leads to frequent confusion. However, several key differences separate them. Grasshoppers have short antennae (shorter than body length), are primarily active during the day, and are strict herbivores that feed on plants and grasses. Crickets have long antennae (longer than body length), are primarily nocturnal, and are omnivores that eat plant material, fabric, paper, and other organic matter. Grasshoppers produce sound by rubbing their hind legs against their forewings (crepitation), while crickets rub their forewings together (stridulation). From a pest control standpoint, the distinction matters because grasshoppers are outdoor landscape pests that rarely enter homes, while crickets actively invade structures. Treatment strategies differ accordingly: grasshopper control focuses on yard and perimeter treatment, while cricket control includes interior treatment and exclusion.

Types Found in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is home to more than 100 grasshopper species, but a handful account for the vast majority of landscape damage in the OKC metro. According to OSU Extension, these are the species most likely to cause problems for homeowners and gardeners.

Differential grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis) is the largest and most economically damaging grasshopper in Oklahoma. Adults reach 1.5 to 2 inches long and are yellowish-green to olive-brown with distinctive black chevron-shaped markings on the hind femur (upper hind leg). They are voracious feeders that target garden vegetables, ornamental plants, and field crops. The differential grasshopper is the species most often responsible for severe garden damage in the OKC metro.

Two-striped grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) is identified by two pale yellow stripes running from behind the eyes down the length of the back. Adults are 1 to 1.5 inches long, generally greenish-brown. They prefer lush green vegetation and are often the first species to move from rangeland into irrigated suburban lawns and gardens. They are common across central Oklahoma and are frequent garden visitors in Edmond, Norman, and Yukon neighborhoods that border open fields.

Red-legged grasshopper (Melanoplus femurrubrum) is one of the most abundant grasshoppers in North America and is extremely common across Oklahoma. Adults are about 1 inch long, brown to reddish-brown, with distinctive red or reddish hind tibiae (lower hind legs). They feed on a wide variety of grasses and broadleaf plants and are often the dominant species in residential lawns. Their smaller size makes them less destructive per individual, but their sheer numbers during outbreak years can cause significant cumulative damage.

Eastern lubber grasshopper (Romalea microptera) is occasionally seen in southern Oklahoma. Lubbers are unmistakable due to their large size (up to 3 inches), bright yellow and black coloring, and sluggish movement. Unlike other grasshoppers, lubbers are poor fliers and slow walkers. They are primarily a curiosity rather than a serious pest in the OKC metro, but their size and bold coloring often alarm homeowners who encounter them. Lubbers are mildly toxic to birds and other predators, which is advertised by their bright warning coloration.

Migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguinipes) is smaller (about 1 inch) and brown with a pale stripe behind the eye. It is one of the most destructive rangeland species in Oklahoma and can migrate in large numbers when populations surge. During outbreak years, migratory grasshoppers can move from agricultural land into residential areas across the OKC metro in significant numbers.

Diet, Behavior, and Habitat

Grasshoppers are strictly herbivorous. They feed on grasses, broadleaf weeds, garden vegetables, ornamental flowers, shrubs, and even tree leaves when populations are high enough. Different species have different food preferences, but most Oklahoma grasshoppers are generalist feeders that will eat whatever green vegetation is available. During dry conditions or when population density is high, grasshoppers become less selective and will feed on plants they normally avoid, including tomatoes, peppers, squash, roses, zinnias, and even young tree bark.

Grasshoppers are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day, especially during the warmest hours between mid-morning and late afternoon. They are cold-blooded and require warmth to be active, which is why you will often see them basking on sunny surfaces like sidewalks, driveways, fence posts, and south-facing walls in the morning before they begin feeding. On cool, cloudy days, grasshopper activity drops significantly.

Their preferred habitat is open grassland, rangeland, roadsides, field margins, and vacant lots with abundant grass and weeds. In the OKC metro, grasshoppers build their largest populations in unmowed fields, pastures, highway medians, utility rights-of-way, and undeveloped lots. From these breeding areas, they move into adjacent residential properties to feed on irrigated lawns and gardens, which often provide more lush and nutritious vegetation than the surrounding dry grassland.

Grasshoppers are solitary rather than social insects, though they can aggregate in large numbers in favorable feeding areas. They do not form organized colonies or nests. At night, they rest on vegetation or the ground and become inactive until warmed by the morning sun.

Life Cycle and Reproduction

Grasshoppers undergo incomplete metamorphosis with three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult.

Eggs: Female grasshoppers deposit eggs in the soil in late summer and fall, typically in undisturbed ground such as field margins, roadsides, vacant lots, and pastures. The female uses her abdomen to drill into the soil and deposits a cluster of 20 to 120 eggs (called an egg pod) cemented together with a frothy secretion that hardens into a protective casing. A single female may lay 8 to 25 egg pods during her lifetime, producing 200 to 400 or more eggs total. Egg pods are typically deposited 1 to 2 inches deep in firm, undisturbed soil. In Oklahoma, eggs are laid from August through October and overwinter in the soil.

Nymphs: Eggs hatch in spring, typically from late April through May in central Oklahoma, when soil temperatures warm sufficiently. Newly hatched nymphs are tiny, about 1/4 inch long, and resemble wingless adults. They go through 5 to 6 molts (instars) over a period of 40 to 60 days before reaching adulthood. Each molt produces a slightly larger nymph with more developed wing pads. Nymphs begin feeding on vegetation immediately after hatching and are most vulnerable to control measures during the first two instars, when they are small, concentrated near hatching sites, and have limited mobility.

Adults: Adults appear from mid-June through July in Oklahoma, depending on species and weather conditions. Adults are fully winged and capable of flight, which allows them to disperse from hatching areas into surrounding neighborhoods and properties. Adults continue feeding throughout the summer, mate, and begin laying eggs in late summer. Most adult grasshoppers in Oklahoma die with the first hard frost in late October or November. The eggs they deposited in the soil survive the winter and restart the cycle the following spring.

Best treatment window: The most effective time to treat for grasshoppers in Oklahoma is late May through early June, when nymphs are small and concentrated near hatching areas. Treating nymphs before they develop wings and disperse is far more effective than trying to control mobile adults spread across a large area. OSU Extension consistently recommends targeting early-instar nymphs as the most cost-effective grasshopper management strategy.

What Attracts Grasshoppers to Oklahoma Properties

Grasshoppers are attracted to green vegetation, warmth, and dry conditions. Several factors specific to Oklahoma properties and the OKC metro climate make certain homes more attractive than others.

• Gardens and vegetable plots: A well-tended garden is a magnet for grasshoppers. Tomatoes, lettuce, beans, squash, peppers, and corn are all preferred food sources. An irrigated garden surrounded by dry grassland is especially attractive because it offers the greenest, most nutritious vegetation in the area.
• Irrigated lawns: Properties with sprinkler systems maintain lush, green turf that stands out from surrounding dry grass during Oklahoma’s hot summers. Grasshoppers actively move toward irrigated lawns for both food and the slightly cooler microclimate the moisture creates.
• Ornamental flower beds: Roses, zinnias, marigolds, hostas, and many other ornamental plants are attractive to grasshoppers. Flower beds along the perimeter of a home can draw grasshoppers right up to the foundation.
• Proximity to open land: Properties adjacent to pastures, vacant lots, unmowed fields, highway rights-of-way, or undeveloped acreage face the heaviest grasshopper pressure because these areas serve as breeding grounds.
• Warm, dry summers: Oklahoma’s hot, dry summers favor grasshopper survival and reproduction. Drought conditions reduce the prevalence of Entomophthora and Nosema, naturally occurring fungal and protozoan diseases that normally keep grasshopper populations in check. Wet springs followed by hot, dry summers create the worst outbreak conditions.
• Undisturbed soil for egg laying: Properties with areas of undisturbed, compacted soil (field edges, unpaved driveways, bare patches along fences) provide ideal egg-laying sites. Grasshoppers prefer firm, bare, or sparsely vegetated soil for depositing egg pods.
• South-facing exposures: Grasshoppers are cold-blooded and orient toward sunny, warm surfaces. South-facing yards, driveways, and garden beds warm earlier in the day and attract more grasshopper activity.

Where Found in OKC Metro

Grasshoppers are present throughout the Oklahoma City metro, but certain areas experience significantly heavier pressure based on proximity to open land and land use patterns.

Rural-suburban interface areas face the heaviest grasshopper pressure. Properties in Choctaw, Piedmont, Mustang, Newcastle, Blanchard, and the outer edges of Edmond and Norman that border agricultural land or undeveloped acreage deal with grasshoppers moving off rangeland into residential landscapes every summer. These transitional zones are where the worst damage typically occurs.

Newer suburban developments built on former agricultural or rangeland in areas like south Edmond, east Yukon, north Norman, and west Mustang often experience heavy grasshopper pressure during the first several years after construction. Egg pods already present in the soil continue to hatch each spring, and surrounding undeveloped land sustains ongoing populations.

Properties near highways and utility corridors across the metro deal with grasshoppers breeding in unmowed right-of-way strips along I-35, I-40, I-44, and the Turner Turnpike. These linear strips of grassland act as breeding corridors that channel grasshoppers into adjacent neighborhoods.

Established neighborhoods with large lots in areas like Nichols Hills, The Village, and older areas of Edmond and Norman see moderate grasshopper pressure. Mature landscaping and irrigated lawns attract grasshoppers, though the distance from open breeding habitat is usually greater.

Inner-city and dense urban areas like downtown OKC, Midtown, and Bricktown see minimal grasshopper activity due to limited green space and distance from breeding habitat. However, even urban properties with gardens or landscaped lots can see grasshoppers during severe outbreak years.

Where Found on Your Property

Grasshoppers are outdoor pests. Unlike crickets, they rarely enter homes and have no interest in indoor environments. When you find grasshoppers on your property, they are almost always in these areas:

• Garden beds: The primary damage zone. Grasshoppers concentrate in vegetable gardens and ornamental beds where food is most abundant and varied.
• Lawn edges and perimeter: Grasshoppers often feed along the edges of lawns, especially where turf meets bare soil, gravel, or fence lines. They use these transition zones for basking and feeding.
• Flower beds along the foundation: Ornamental plantings adjacent to the home attract grasshoppers close to the structure, which sometimes leads to incidental entry through open doors.
• Fence lines and property edges: Fence rows, especially those with weedy growth along the base, serve as travel corridors and feeding areas.
• Shrubs and young trees: During high-population years, grasshoppers will climb into shrubs and feed on leaves, sometimes causing significant defoliation on young or ornamental trees.
• Driveways and sidewalks (basking): Grasshoppers frequently sit on warm, paved surfaces in the morning to raise their body temperature before feeding.
• Inside the home (rare): Grasshoppers occasionally enter through open doors or garage doors but do not establish indoor populations. A grasshopper inside the house is incidental and can simply be removed.

Signs of Grasshopper Activity

Grasshopper damage is often obvious once you know what to look for. The following signs indicate grasshopper activity on your property:

• Defoliation: Leaves stripped from garden plants, ornamentals, and shrubs. Grasshoppers eat from the leaf edges inward, leaving ragged, irregular margins. Severe feeding can reduce plants to bare stems.
• Chewed leaves with ragged edges: Unlike the clean holes made by beetles, grasshopper feeding produces torn, uneven edges on remaining leaf tissue. Partially consumed leaves with large, irregular missing sections are characteristic.
• Visible adults and nymphs: Grasshoppers are active during the day and easy to spot. Walking through your lawn or garden and seeing grasshoppers jumping ahead of you is the most direct indicator. Nymphs are smaller and may be harder to notice initially.
• Droppings (frass): Grasshopper droppings are small, dark, elongated pellets found on leaves and beneath plants where grasshoppers have been feeding. They are smaller than caterpillar frass and often go unnoticed unless you look closely.
• Clipped flower heads: Grasshoppers sometimes chew through flower stems just below the bud, causing flower heads to drop. This is especially common with roses and zinnia.
• Bark damage on young trees: In severe outbreak years, grasshoppers will gnaw bark from young trees and shrubs, particularly on green, tender bark. This can girdle and kill young transplants.
• Lawn thinning: In heavy infestations, grasshoppers can thin turf grass noticeably, especially along edges and in areas adjacent to open land. The lawn may look patchy or stressed even with adequate irrigation.

What Do Grasshoppers Sound Like?

Grasshoppers produce sound differently than crickets. While crickets are famous for their nighttime chirping, grasshoppers create sounds primarily during the daytime through two methods.

Stridulation: Many grasshopper species rub a row of small pegs on the inner surface of their hind femur against the edge of their forewing. This produces a buzzing or rasping sound that is quieter and less musical than cricket chirping. The sound is typically a brief, scratchy buzz repeated at intervals. Males stridulate to attract females and to establish territory. You are most likely to hear this on warm, sunny afternoons in areas with high grasshopper density.

Crepitation: Some grasshopper species, particularly band-winged grasshoppers, produce a snapping or crackling sound in flight by rapidly flexing their hind wings. If you have ever walked through a dry Oklahoma field in July and heard what sounds like small firecrackers popping as insects fly up around you, that is crepitation. Band-winged grasshoppers often have brightly colored hind wings (yellow, orange, or red) that flash during these display flights.

Unlike cricket chirping, grasshopper sounds are typically not loud enough to be heard from inside a home. They are noticeable outdoors in areas with high grasshopper populations, particularly in open fields and along property edges adjacent to rangeland. If you are hearing loud insect sounds at night, that is almost certainly crickets, not grasshoppers.

How to Tell If Grasshoppers Are Active

Confirming active grasshopper activity is straightforward because grasshoppers are daytime insects that are easy to observe directly.

Walk your property during warm afternoon hours. If grasshoppers are present, you will see them jumping and flying ahead of you as you walk through the lawn and garden. Count the number of grasshoppers per square yard in a few sample areas. OSU Extension considers 8 to 14 per square yard in rangeland to be economically damaging for agricultural settings. In residential landscapes, even 3 to 5 per square yard can cause noticeable garden damage.

Check garden plants for fresh feeding damage. Look for newly chewed leaves with ragged edges. Fresh damage will show green, moist tissue at the wound edges. Older damage will have dried, brown edges. The presence of fresh damage confirms active feeding.

Inspect sunny surfaces in the morning. Grasshoppers bask on warm surfaces to raise their body temperature. Check driveways, sidewalks, south-facing fence posts, and foundation walls between 8 and 10 AM. If grasshoppers are congregating on warm surfaces, you have an active population.

Look for nymphs in spring. In late April through May, check areas of bare or sparsely vegetated soil near your property for tiny grasshopper nymphs (1/4 to 1/2 inch). Finding nymphs early gives you the best window for effective treatment before they mature, develop wings, and disperse.

Grasshopper Season in Oklahoma

Grasshopper activity in Oklahoma follows a predictable seasonal pattern tied to soil temperature, rainfall, and the insect’s life cycle.

Late April through May: Eggs that overwintered in the soil begin hatching as soil temperatures warm. Nymphs emerge in waves over several weeks. This is the best window for control treatments because nymphs are small, concentrated, and flightless.

June: Nymphs grow rapidly through successive molts. By late June, most grasshoppers are in their later nymph stages or reaching adulthood. Wing development is nearly complete. Feeding pressure on lawns and gardens begins to increase noticeably.

July through August: Peak grasshopper season in Oklahoma. Adults are fully winged, mobile, and feeding heavily to fuel egg production. This is when garden and landscape damage is most severe. Hot, dry conditions favor grasshopper activity and reduce the effectiveness of natural disease organisms that help control populations.

September through October: Adult grasshoppers are mating and laying eggs in the soil. Feeding continues but begins to slow as temperatures cool. Early-season species may already be dying off. Egg-laying activity is concentrated in undisturbed soil areas.

November through March: The first hard frost kills remaining adults. Grasshopper eggs remain dormant in the soil through winter, protected by their egg pod casing and insulated by soil depth. No active grasshoppers are present above ground during Oklahoma winters.

Outbreak years: Oklahoma experiences cyclical grasshopper outbreaks, often following patterns of wet springs (which produce abundant vegetation for nymphs to eat) followed by hot, dry summers (which suppress natural grasshopper diseases). OSU Extension tracks these outbreak cycles and issues advisories when conditions favor population surges. During outbreak years, grasshopper densities can be 5 to 10 times higher than normal, and damage to residential landscapes can be severe across the entire metro.

Health Risks

Grasshoppers pose minimal health risks to humans and pets. They do not bite, sting, or transmit diseases. They are not venomous and do not carry parasites that affect humans. A grasshopper’s primary defense mechanisms are jumping, flying, and occasionally regurgitating a brown liquid (sometimes called “tobacco juice”) when handled, which is harmless though unpleasant.

Dogs and cats may chase and eat grasshoppers, which is generally harmless. Grasshoppers can carry internal parasites, including horsehair worms, but these parasites are specific to insects and do not infect mammals. In rare cases, a pet that eats very large numbers of grasshoppers could experience mild digestive upset, but this is uncommon.

The only meaningful health-adjacent concern with grasshoppers is their potential to damage food gardens, reducing a homeowner’s harvest. For families that rely on home gardens for fresh produce, a grasshopper infestation can represent a real loss.

Property and Landscape Damage

Grasshoppers are primarily a landscape and garden pest, and their damage can range from minor to severe depending on population density.

Garden damage: This is where grasshoppers cause the most frustration for Oklahoma homeowners. A moderate grasshopper population can strip a vegetable garden in a matter of days. Tomatoes, beans, lettuce, peppers, squash, and corn are all heavily targeted. Grasshoppers eat leaves, flowers, and developing fruit. A garden that was thriving one week can be decimated the next during peak season.

Ornamental damage: Roses, zinnias, marigolds, hostas, daylilies, and many other ornamental plants are attractive to grasshoppers. They chew leaves, clip flower heads, and can defoliate ornamental beds that represent significant investment in landscaping.

Lawn damage: While grasshoppers prefer broadleaf plants, they also feed on turf grass, especially Bermuda grass, which is the dominant lawn grass across the OKC metro. In heavy infestations, grasshoppers thin the turf, create patchy areas, and leave lawns looking stressed. Damage is often concentrated along edges adjacent to open fields or vacant lots.

Tree and shrub damage: In severe outbreak years, grasshoppers climb into trees and shrubs and feed on leaves. Young, newly planted trees are most vulnerable because grasshoppers can strip enough foliage to stress or kill the tree. They may also gnaw green bark on young branches and trunks, which can girdle and kill limbs. Mature, established trees typically tolerate grasshopper feeding without lasting harm.

Economic impact: For homeowners who have invested in landscaping, gardens, and ornamental plantings, grasshopper damage represents real economic loss. Replacing stripped garden plants, re-planting ornamentals, and repairing damaged turf can cost hundreds of dollars per season during outbreak years. Properties near agricultural land in Mustang, Choctaw, Piedmont, and rural Edmond are most frequently impacted.

Prevention

Completely preventing grasshoppers is difficult because they are mobile, widespread, and can fly in from surrounding areas. However, several strategies reduce the severity of grasshopper damage on your property.

1. Maintain a clean perimeter: Mow tall grass and weeds along fence lines, property edges, and around outbuildings. Grasshoppers breed in areas of tall, undisturbed grass, and keeping borders mowed reduces harborage and egg-laying sites near your home.
2. Use floating row covers on gardens: Lightweight fabric row covers placed over vegetable gardens create a physical barrier that prevents grasshoppers from reaching plants while still allowing light, air, and water through. This is the single most reliable method for protecting a home garden from grasshopper feeding.
3. Reduce bare soil areas: Grasshoppers prefer to lay eggs in bare, compacted soil. Mulching garden beds, maintaining ground cover, and minimizing bare patches reduces egg-laying habitat on your property.
4. Encourage natural predators: Birds (especially bluebirds, kestrels, and mockingbirds), toads, and beneficial insects like blister beetles and robber flies all prey on grasshoppers. Bird feeders, bird houses, and diverse plantings that support predator habitat can help. Avoid broad-spectrum insecticide applications that kill beneficial predators along with grasshoppers.
5. Till garden soil in fall or early spring: Tilling soil where grasshopper eggs may have been deposited exposes egg pods to predators, desiccation, and freezing temperatures. This is most effective in garden beds and border areas where egg-laying activity was observed.
6. Plant less-preferred species: Grasshoppers tend to avoid strongly aromatic plants like lavender, cilantro, sage, and juniper. Planting these around garden borders may provide some deterrent effect, though hungry grasshoppers will eat nearly anything during peak season.
7. Address nearby open land: If you own or can coordinate with owners of adjacent vacant lots or fields, mowing or managing that land can significantly reduce the source population feeding into your yard.
8. Monitor in spring: Walk your property and adjacent areas in late April and May looking for small nymphs. Early detection allows for treatment during the most effective window before adults develop wings and disperse.

Treatment Process

Professional grasshopper treatment focuses on yard and perimeter applications rather than interior treatment, since grasshoppers are outdoor pests that do not establish indoor populations.

Step 1: Inspection. Our technician inspects your property to assess grasshopper population density, identify the species present, locate feeding damage, and determine where grasshoppers are entering your yard. We check property edges, garden areas, and adjacent open land to understand the source of the pressure.

Step 2: Perimeter and yard treatment. We apply a residual insecticide treatment to the lawn, garden borders, fence lines, and property perimeter. The product creates a treated zone that grasshoppers contact as they move through your yard. For gardens specifically, we can apply targeted treatments to the soil and lower plant canopy where grasshoppers feed.

Step 3: Bait application (when appropriate). For heavier infestations, especially on properties bordering open land, grasshopper bait can be broadcast across the lawn and along property edges. Bait products contain an attractant mixed with an insecticide that grasshoppers consume. This approach is effective for reducing populations across larger areas and can intercept grasshoppers before they reach garden beds.

Step 4: Recommendations. We provide specific recommendations for your property, which may include row cover installation for gardens, mowing schedules for perimeter areas, and timing for follow-up treatments based on the season and population pressure.

Grasshopper control is included as part of Alpha Pest Solutions’ general pest control yard treatment program. If you are dealing with grasshoppers alongside other lawn and garden pests like armyworms or grub worms, our program addresses multiple pests with coordinated treatments.

Treatment Timeline and Expectations

After a professional grasshopper treatment from Alpha Pest Solutions, here is what to expect:

First 24 to 48 hours: You may still see grasshoppers on your property, especially if they are flying in from adjacent untreated areas. Grasshoppers that contact treated surfaces or consume bait will die within hours to a couple of days. Some continued feeding damage may occur during this initial period.

First 1 to 2 weeks: Grasshopper activity on treated areas should decrease noticeably. The residual treatment continues working as grasshoppers move across treated surfaces. New grasshoppers arriving from untreated neighboring land will contact the barrier. You should see a significant reduction in feeding damage to garden plants and ornamentals.

2 to 4 weeks: Garden and landscape damage should stabilize. Treated areas will show recovery as plants regrow without ongoing feeding pressure. If population pressure from surrounding land remains high, a follow-up treatment may be recommended to maintain the protective barrier through peak season.

Ongoing: Our recurring pest control plans include yard treatments timed to match Oklahoma’s pest season. For properties with chronic grasshopper pressure, treatments in late May (targeting nymphs), mid-July (peak season), and September (late-season adults) provide season-long protection. Heavy rainfall can reduce product residual and may require reapplication.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are there so many grasshoppers in my yard this year?

Grasshopper populations fluctuate significantly from year to year based on weather patterns. A wet spring that produces abundant vegetation for nymphs to eat, followed by a hot, dry summer that suppresses natural grasshopper diseases, creates the conditions for population explosions. If your property is near open fields, pastures, or undeveloped land, you are in the path of grasshoppers moving from breeding areas into residential landscapes. Oklahoma experiences cyclical outbreaks, and some years are simply worse than others regardless of what you do on your own property.

Do grasshoppers bite people?

Grasshoppers do not bite in any meaningful sense. They have chewing mouthparts designed for cutting plant tissue, not for biting animals. If you pick up a large grasshopper, it may nibble on your skin, but this is more of a sampling behavior than a defensive bite. It is rarely strong enough to break the skin and is not painful. Grasshoppers are not aggressive toward humans. Their defensive responses are jumping, flying, and regurgitating a harmless brown liquid. They pose no bite or sting risk to you, your children, or your pets.

What is the difference between a grasshopper and a locust?

Locusts are grasshoppers. Specifically, locusts are certain grasshopper species that can undergo a behavioral and physical transformation when population density gets very high, switching from a solitary phase to a gregarious swarming phase. In the swarming phase, locusts change color, develop longer wings, and form massive migratory swarms. North America does have a historical locust species (the Rocky Mountain locust), but it went extinct in the early 1900s. The grasshoppers in Oklahoma are not locusts and do not form the organized, continent-spanning swarms associated with locust plagues. They can, however, reach very high local densities during outbreak years.

Will grasshoppers damage my Bermuda grass lawn?

Grasshoppers do feed on Bermuda grass, which is the most common lawn grass across the OKC metro. In normal years with moderate populations, grasshopper feeding on established Bermuda grass is minor and the lawn recovers quickly. During outbreak years with very high populations, grasshoppers can thin turf noticeably, especially along property edges adjacent to open land. Bermuda grass is resilient and will typically regrow once grasshopper pressure subsides, but heavy feeding combined with summer drought stress can create bare patches that need reseeding. Irrigated lawns recover faster than non-irrigated turf.

How can I protect my vegetable garden from grasshoppers?

The most reliable protection for a home vegetable garden is floating row covers, which are lightweight fabric barriers placed over plants. They block grasshoppers physically while allowing sunlight, rain, and airflow through. For open gardens without row covers, perimeter treatments applied around the garden border can intercept grasshoppers before they reach your plants. Companion planting with strongly scented herbs like cilantro and sage may provide some deterrence. During severe outbreaks, combining physical barriers with professional perimeter treatment gives the best results. Hand-picking grasshoppers early in the morning when they are sluggish can also reduce pressure on small gardens.

Are grasshoppers harmful to dogs or cats?

Grasshoppers are not harmful to dogs or cats. Many pets enjoy chasing and eating them, and consuming a few grasshoppers is generally harmless. Grasshoppers can carry horsehair worms, but these parasites are insect-specific and do not infect mammals. The primary concern is that pets chasing grasshoppers in recently treated areas could be exposed to insecticide residue. Always let your pest control technician know about outdoor pets so treatments can be applied safely with appropriate drying time before pets access the area. If your pet eats a very large number of grasshoppers, mild digestive upset is possible but uncommon.

When is the best time to treat for grasshoppers in Oklahoma?

The most effective treatment window is late May through early June, when grasshopper nymphs are small, concentrated near hatching sites, and have not yet developed wings. Treating nymphs before they become mobile adults is far more effective and requires less product than trying to control a dispersed adult population. OSU Extension consistently recommends targeting early-instar nymphs as the most cost-effective approach. If you miss the nymph window, midsummer treatments can still reduce adult populations and protect gardens during the peak damage period of July and August. Treatments applied in September help reduce egg-laying adults on your property.

Do store-bought grasshopper sprays work?

Over-the-counter insecticide sprays can kill grasshoppers on contact, but they have significant limitations. Most consumer products provide little to no residual protection, meaning new grasshoppers arriving from neighboring areas are unaffected. Grasshoppers are mobile insects that can fly in from hundreds of yards away, so killing the ones currently in your garden does not solve the problem when more arrive the next day. Professional treatments use products with longer residual activity and can be applied across the full property perimeter and yard, creating a barrier that works continuously. For small, isolated grasshopper problems, a consumer spray may be adequate, but for the sustained pressure common in the OKC metro, professional treatment is more effective.

Can grasshoppers kill my plants?

Yes, grasshoppers can kill plants, especially young transplants, seedlings, and small ornamentals. When grasshoppers completely defoliate a plant, they remove its ability to photosynthesize, which can be fatal for annuals and young perennials. Established perennials and mature shrubs typically survive defoliation and regrow, though repeated defoliation over multiple seasons weakens them. Young trees are particularly vulnerable because grasshoppers can both strip leaves and gnaw bark, potentially girdling branches or trunks. Vegetable garden plants that lose their leaves and flowers during the growing season may survive but will produce little to no harvest.

Why do grasshoppers come to my property but not my neighbor’s?

Grasshoppers are attracted to the greenest, most nutritious vegetation available. If your property has an irrigated lawn, a lush garden, or abundant ornamental plantings and your neighbor’s does not, your yard is more attractive. Properties closest to open fields, pastures, or vacant lots also receive heavier pressure because they are the first stop for grasshoppers moving off breeding habitat. South-facing yards warm earlier in the day and attract more grasshopper basking activity. If your neighbor has a professional pest treatment and you do not, grasshoppers may concentrate on untreated properties where there is no chemical barrier.

Do grasshoppers come inside the house?

Grasshoppers are outdoor insects and do not seek to enter homes. Unlike crickets, which are attracted to indoor environments for warmth, moisture, and food, grasshoppers have no interest in the interior of your house. Occasionally, a grasshopper will fly or jump through an open door, window, or garage door by accident, but this is incidental. A grasshopper inside your home is lost, not infesting. You can simply catch it and release it outside or guide it out through a door. If you are regularly finding jumping insects inside your home, they are more likely crickets than grasshoppers.

What eats grasshoppers in Oklahoma?

Grasshoppers have many natural predators in Oklahoma. Birds are the most significant, including bluebirds, mockingbirds, American kestrels, roadrunners, quail, and crows. Toads, frogs, and lizards consume large numbers of nymphs and adults. Predatory insects including robber flies, praying mantises, and blister beetles (whose larvae feed on grasshopper eggs) all help control populations. Spiders catch grasshoppers in webs, and mice eat grasshopper eggs in the soil. Several parasitic flies and fungal diseases also attack grasshoppers. Despite all these natural controls, grasshopper reproductive potential is high enough that populations can still surge during favorable weather years.

Is there a natural way to control grasshoppers?

Several biological and natural approaches can help manage grasshoppers. Nosema locustae is a naturally occurring protozoan pathogen that can be applied as a bait to infect and slowly reduce grasshopper populations over time. It is most effective against nymphs and works best as a preventive measure applied early in the season. Neem oil sprays deter feeding but must be reapplied frequently. Encouraging bird populations through birdhouses and feeders adds natural predation. Row covers on gardens provide chemical-free physical protection. However, during severe outbreaks, natural methods alone are often insufficient to prevent significant damage, and combining them with targeted professional treatment provides the best results.

How do grasshoppers survive the Oklahoma winter?

Adult grasshoppers do not survive Oklahoma winters. They die with the first hard frost, typically in late October or November. The species survives through eggs deposited in the soil during late summer and fall. Egg pods are buried 1 to 2 inches deep in firm soil and encased in a protective secretion that insulates them from freezing temperatures, desiccation, and many predators. These eggs remain dormant through winter and hatch the following spring when soil temperatures warm sufficiently, usually in late April or May. The entire above-ground grasshopper population is replaced each year from overwintered eggs.

Are grasshoppers worse during drought years in Oklahoma?

Grasshopper outbreaks in Oklahoma are closely tied to weather patterns, and dry conditions generally favor larger populations. Drought suppresses Entomophthora fungus and other naturally occurring diseases that normally kill grasshoppers, allowing more individuals to survive to adulthood. Hot, dry conditions also speed up nymph development. The worst outbreaks often follow a specific pattern: a wet spring that produces abundant vegetation for nymphs to feed on, followed by a hot, dry summer that suppresses natural population controls. Drought also concentrates grasshoppers on irrigated residential properties, which become the only green oasis in an otherwise dry landscape, intensifying damage to lawns and gardens.

How much does grasshopper treatment cost?

Grasshopper treatment is typically included in Alpha Pest Solutions’ general pest control yard treatment programs. Recurring quarterly, bimonthly, or monthly plans provide the best value because they maintain continuous protection through the entire grasshopper season and address other yard pests simultaneously. One-time targeted treatments are also available for acute grasshopper problems threatening gardens or landscapes. The cost depends on your property size, the severity of the infestation, and whether bait applications are needed for heavier pressure. Contact us at (405) 977-0678 for a free inspection and specific pricing for your property.

Related Services and Pests

Grasshoppers connect to several other pests and services. Explore these related pages for more information:

• General Pest Control – Our recurring plans cover grasshoppers and dozens of other common Oklahoma pests including yard treatments
• General Pests Hub – Overview of all general household and yard pests in Oklahoma
• Crickets – The most commonly confused insect with grasshoppers; crickets are nocturnal structure invaders while grasshoppers are daytime yard pests
• Armyworms – Another lawn and landscape pest that damages turf grass across the OKC metro
• Armyworm Control – Dedicated service for armyworm infestations that often coincide with grasshopper season

Get Rid of Grasshoppers on Your Oklahoma Property

If grasshoppers are stripping your garden, chewing through your flower beds, or thinning your lawn, Alpha Pest Solutions can help. We serve homeowners and businesses across the entire Oklahoma City metro with proven yard treatments that target grasshoppers at the source. Our technicians know Oklahoma’s grasshopper season, they know which species are causing the damage, and they know how to protect your landscape through the worst of it.

Call us today at (405) 977-0678 or request your free inspection online. We will assess your property, identify the source of the pressure, and build a treatment plan that protects your garden and landscape all season long. Same-day service is available Monday through Saturday.