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Canada

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Canada
Canada is within:
Region:Americas
 
Subregion:Northern America
 

The Rocky Mountain locust, Melanoplus spretus (Walsh, 1866), once swarmed the Great Plains of North America from Canada to Colorado. Before 1900, it held the distinction of being the foremost agricultural pest, boasting the largest recorded swarms among all locust species worldwide. [1] [2] What are believed to be the last known specimens of this species were discovered in Canada in 1902 and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) officially declared the species extinct in 2014.[3] However, farmers and ranchers in the Prairie Provinces of Canada still face recurrent outbreaks of other pest grasshopper species. Annual surveys have been conducted in these regions since 1920 to monitor and address these cyclical grasshopper infestations.[4]

Out of the 400+ grasshopper species found in the western United States and Canadian prairies, only around two dozen grasshopper species from three acridid subfamilies (Gomphocerinae, Melanoplinae, and Oedipodinae) have the ability to cause economically significant crop damage through population outbreaks. [5] [6] [7]

The major grasshopper pest species in western Canada are the two-striped grasshopper, Melanoplus bivittatus (Say, 1825), the Bruner spurthroated grasshopper, Melanoplus bruneri Scudder, 1897, and the clear-winged grasshopper, Camnula pellucida (Scudder, 1862) (Johnson 2022, unpublished data, based on 12,000 identified survey specimens). While the migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius, 1798) is the most damaging pest species in the USA and in some southern areas of Canadian grassland, in regions north of 53 degrees, it has represented less than 1% of the grasshopper community in recent years. [6] [7]

Species gallery


Organizational relationships

The Prairie Provinces of Canada, namely Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, serve as important hubs for locust and grasshopper research and management organizations. Historically, grasshopper surveys in Canada were conducted by the Department of Agriculture, now known as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in collaboration with counties and municipalities. Federal research stations oversaw these surveys and created maps to depict breeding populations in late summer, providing an approximate forecast of the expected risk for the following year. [8]

Presently, the responsibility for surveys lies with the provincial agriculture departments in coordination with counties and municipalities. These entities employ surveyors to document grasshopper densities and collect specimens for species identification. Manitoba Agriculture, Saskatchewan Agriculture, and Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation make biological data, monitoring information, and forecasting available. [8]

The Prairie Pest Monitoring Network, consisting of federal and provincial experts, industry representatives, and university researchers, plays a crucial role. They generate maps and organize meetings to discuss grasshoppers and other agricultural pests. In British Columbia, collaboration between industry and various levels of government occurs when grasshopper issues arise in interior rangeland and crops. [8]

Organizations

Locusts and grasshoppers are typically managed through a national plant protection system led by a country’s plant protection organization, ministry of agriculture, or equivalent biosecurity authority. They are often supported by specialized pest control branches, natural resource agencies, and regional bodies when outbreaks cross borders. These agencies are usually the first point of contact for surveillance, reporting, permits, quarantine decisions, and control operations. If the country belongs to one of the FAO locust commissions, those bodies provide a regional framework for early warning, field surveillance, information sharing, and coordinated response, helping countries align monitoring, contingency planning, and control actions across borders.

Organization name Acronym Website Type Focus Geographic purview
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada AAFC View Government Funding Canada
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture IICA View Non-governmental Organization Development Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela
North American Plant Protection Organization NAPPO View Non-governmental Organization Governance Canada, Mexico, United States
Prairie Pest Monitoring Network View Non-profit Organization Management Canada


Resources

Name Species purview Year published Resource link Descriptive keyword Language Geographic purview Author
Field crop and forage pests and their natural enemies in Western Canada 2018 View Agriculturist guide, Education, Infographic, Management, Species identification, Integrated pest management English Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Grasshopper Identification and Control Methods to Protect Crops and the Environment 2010 View Management, Species identification, Control, Pesticides English Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Naturalist's guides for grasshoppers of the Canadian Prairies and Northern Great Plains Species identification, Agriculture, Behavior, Crop health, Distribution, Ecology, Grasshoppers, Photos, Habitat, General locust education, Overview, Infestations, Set English Canada University of Lethbridge, Dan Johnson
Prairie Pest Monitoring Network (PPMN) Information hub, Biology, Forecasting, Monitoring Canada
Singing Insects of North America View Species identification, Songs, Singing insects, Information hub English United States, Canada
The insects and arachnids of Canada part 14 1985 View Biology, Ecology, Taxonomy, Orthoptera, Species identification English Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Vernon R. Vickery, Keith McE. Kevan

Highlighted media coverage

Name Author Language Species purview Substance Resource link Year published
Drought puts Alberta farmers at risk of another scourge of grasshoppers English News article 2024

Projects

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References

  1. ↑ Lockwood JA, Debrey LD (1990) A Solution for the Sudden and Unexplained Extinction of the Rocky Mountain Grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae), Environmental Entomology. 19: 1194–1205. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/19.5.1194
  2. ↑ Lockwood JA (2004) Locust: the Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-7382-0894-7.
  3. ↑ Hochkirch A (2014) Melanoplus spretus. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T51269349A55309428.en.
  4. ↑ Johnson DL (1989b) Spatial autocorrelation, spatial modelling, and improvements in grasshopper survey methodology. Canadian Entomologist 121: 579–588. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent121579-7
  5. ↑ Dysart RJ (1996–2000) Technical Bulletin No. 1809. VI.6 Relative Importance of Rangeland Grasshoppers in Western North America: A Numerical Ranking From the Literature. Pp. VI.6-1-20 in G. L. Cunningham and M. W. Sampson, editors, Grasshopper Integrated Pest Management User Handbook. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Washington, DC.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pfadt RE (2002) Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers, Third Edition. Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 912. Laramie, Wyoming.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Johnson DL (2008) Grasshopper identification & control methods to protect crops and the environment. Available from: http://scholar.ulethbridge.ca/sites/default/files/danjohnson/files/grasshopper_identification_control_methods.pdf
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Ries MW, Adriaansen C, Aldobai S, Berry K, Bal AB, Catenaccio MC, Cigliano MM, Cullen DA, Deveson T, Diongue A, Foquet B, Hadrich J, Hunter D, Johnson DL, Pablo Karnatz J, Lange CE, Lawton D, Lazar M, Latchininsky AV, Lecoq M, Le Gall M, Lockwood J, Manneh B, Overson R, Peterson BF, Piou C, Poot-Pech MA, Robinson BE, Rogers SM, Song H, Springate S, Therville C, Trumper E, Waters C, Woller DA, Youngblood JP, Zhang L, Cease A (2024) Global perspectives and transdisciplinary opportunities for locust and grasshopper pest management and research. Journal of Orthoptera Research 33(2): 169–216. doi:10.3897/jor.33.112803.
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