Utah

Utah
Utah is within:
Country:	United States

Rangeland portal / Utah

Utah is located in the western United States. It is known for diverse landscapes, including mountains, deserts, plateaus, and salt flats. Utah is home to the mormon cricket and three primary types of grasshoppers: slant-faced, band-winged, and spur-throated grasshoppers, some of which cause periodic and serious damage to rangeland and crops.

State ecology

Utah's topography varies from low desert basins to high mountain valleys, creating diverse ecosystems, each with its own unique plant and animal communities. Much of the state consists of rangelands, shrublands, and grasslands, which offer the open, dry environments that many grasshopper species prefer. These habitats supply the warm soil temperatures and plentiful grasses and forbs that support grasshopper growth, particularly during spring and summer. Climate plays a major role in population fluctuations—warm, dry springs tend to favor grasshopper survival, while drought can reduce the presence and effectiveness of natural predators and pathogens.

Species gallery

• Highlighted species for Utah
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  Mottled sand grasshopper (Spharagemon collare)
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  White cross grasshopper (Aulocara femoratum)
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  Greater angle-wing katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium)
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  Blue-legged grasshopper (Metator pardalinus)
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  Brown-spotted range grasshopper (Psoloessa delicatula)
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  Clear-winged grasshopper (Camnula pellucida)
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  White-whiskered grasshopper (Ageneotettix deorum)
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  Prairie tree cricket (Oecanthus argentinus)
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  Four-spotted grasshopper (Phlibostroma quadrimaculatum)
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  Creosote bush katydid (Insara covilleae)
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  Striped sand grasshopper (Melanoplus foedus)
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  Bruner spur-throated grasshopper (Melanoplus bruneri)
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  Valley grasshopper (Oedaleonotus enigma)
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  Green bird grasshopper (Schistocerca shoshone)
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  Two-striped grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus)
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  Fork-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia furcata)

Species of management concern

Important agricultural pest species include the red-legged grasshopper (Melanoplus femurrubrum), the differential grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis), the two-striped grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus), the migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguinipes), and the Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex).

View U.S. Grasshopper Forecast Hazard Maps

Grasshopper management

Mormons, Crickets, and Gulls: A New Look At An Old Story. Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. 38, 1970, No. 3.

Grasshopper populations are mainly driven by weather. Warm, dry springs speed up hatching and growth, while warm summers support egg laying. Overwintering eggs are generally resistant to freezing, especially with a good snow cover. A year with a combination of these factors can lead to outbreaks. Cold, wet conditions can hinder grasshopper activity due to their ectothermic nature, while also impacting the predators and parasites that naturally control their numbers. Additionally, cooler, damp environments encourage the spread of fungal infections and other pathogens, which can lead to sharp declines in grasshopper populations.

Spring is a recommended time for communities to control grasshoppers, as they are still nymphs and easier to manage. Ranchers are advised to watch for grasshopper "hot spots," where early egg-laying and outbreaks begin. Delayed action often leads to larger infestations that are harder and more expensive to manage. Treating large areas is key, since adult grasshoppers can travel far and may not stay in one place long enough for insecticides to work. Paranosema locustae (synonyms: Antonospora locustae, Nosema locustae) (sold as Nolo Bait in Utah) is a biological control that infects grasshoppers when ingested, killing up to 70% and weakening many survivors. Utah has over 500 registered grasshopper control products. Some county weed offices provide sprayers for free, though insecticide must be purchased separately.

The United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) oversees control efforts targeting grasshoppers on public lands. When grasshopper populations become large, landowners can collaborate to obtain state and federal assistance through a cooperative rangeland grasshopper management program.

Grasshopper control products come as sprays, dusts, or baits. Though costlier, dusts and baits can be applied without advanced equipment. Dusts need frequent reapplication, while baits work best when vegetation is sparse. Carbaryl bait is effective in non-crop areas, targeting only insects that eat it. Baits are especially useful against nymphs foraging on the ground. Malathion and carbaryl are considered low in toxicity to humans and are often sprayed along roadsides and fence rows. Other approved grasshopper control products in Utah include acephate, beta-cyfluthrin, bifenthrin, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, and lambda-cyhalothrin. Sprays are most effective when targeting nymphs rather than adults.

Featured resource

• 
  Community-wide grasshopper control

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Outbreaks

Grasshoppers "making sad havoc with the newly planted crops". Rocky Mountain Gazette 1867.

Grasshopper and Mormon cricket outbreaks in Utah occur periodically, influenced by environmental conditions. Larger outbreaks tend to happen every decade or so, while local populations can fluctuate more frequently based on factors like drought and temperature. There is much literature about the Mormon cricket in Utah. The cricket, which is actually a species of shield-backed katydid, got its name from a historical event involving early Mormon settlers in Utah in the mid-1800s. The insect became infamous when massive swarms descended on the crops of Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley around 1848, threatening their food supply. According to pioneer accounts, the settlers prayed for relief, and soon after, large flocks of seagulls arrived and began eating the crickets. This event became known as the "Miracle of the Gulls," and the insect came to be called the Mormon cricket in reference to the settlers it plagued. The name stuck due to the dramatic and memorable nature of the incident. An excerpt from a pioneer part of the early Mormon migration to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847:

“We have grappled with the frost. . . but today to our utter astonishment, the crickets came by millions, sweeping everything before them. They first attacked a patch of beans for us and in twenty minutes there was not a vestige of them to be seen. They next swept over peas, then came into our garden; took everything clean. We went out with brush and undertook to drive them, but they were too strong for us.”

For more information and accounts of early Mormon cricket outbreaks in Utah see Crickets and grasshoppers in Utah by W.W. Henderson.

Organizations

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Resources

Name	Year published	Resource link	Descriptive keyword	Language	Author
Agricultural plant pest management	2001	View	Integrated pest management, Management, Agriculture, Crop health, Infestations, Glossary	English	Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, F.R. Beard, H.M. Deer, S. Thomson, J.B Karren, D.G. Alston, A.H. Roe, S.A. Dewey
APHIS regulatory documents	2018		Early warning, Ecology, Public health, Social science, Culture, insecticide, Infestations, Environmental assessment, Rangeland management, Pesticides, Bundle, Environmental impact	English	Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
ARS grasshopper species fact sheets	1994		Management, Species identification, Series	English	Agricultural Research Services, United States Department of Agriculture
CARMA		View	Prototype cropland, Advice, Rangeland management, Crop health, Grasshoppers, Infestations, Outbreaks	English	Scott Shell Extension Entomology, University of Wyoming
Community-wide grasshopper control	2020	View	insecticide, Spraying, Species identification, Nymphs, Grasshoppers	English	Utah State University, Marion Murray
Court rejects federal pesticide-spraying program on millions of acres of western rangelands	2025		Ecology, Spraying, Chemical control, Infestations, Management, Governance, Conservation, Land use management, Habitat	English
Crickets and grasshoppers in Utah	1931	View	Morphology, Grasshoppers, History, Chemical control, insecticide, Outbreaks, Species identification	English	Utah State University
Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers	2002		Species identification, Field guide	English	United States Department of Agriculture, Robert E. Pfadt
Grasshopper infestation continues after pesticide spray canceled	2023		Spraying, Ecology, Environmental science, Infestations, Emergency response, Chemical control, Grazing	English	Alaina Mencinger
Grasshopper Integrated Pest Management User Handbook	2000		Biological control, Chemical control, Monitoring, Modeling, Population dynamics, Rangeland management, Decision making, Bundle, Ecology, Pesticides, Biopesticide, Integrated pest management	English	Agricultural Research Services, United States Department of Agriculture
Grasshopper watch	2022		Grasshoppers	English
Grasshoppers Are Descending on the West in Swarms	2021		Grasshoppers	English
Grasshoppers in Utah	1990	View	Behavior, Grasshopper development, Weather, Population dynamics, Overview, Rangeland management	English	Edward W. Evans
Grasshoppers of the Western United States		View	Management, Species identification, Key	English	United States Department of Agriculture
Grasshoppers their habits and damage	1964	View	Grasshoppers, Outbreaks, Natural enemies, Ecology, Habitat, Quality illustrations, Species identification	English	United States Department of Agriculture
Hopper helper		View	Survey, Life cycle, Species identification, Integrated pest management	English	Wendal Cushing
Las Vegas resident shares experience as swarms of grasshoppers return to valley	2024		Outbreaks	English
Mega Disasters: Super Swarms of Locusts	2021		General locust education, Video	English
Montana.gov Orthoptera Field Guides		View	Species identification, Management, Biology, Distribution, Map, Rangeland management, Information hub, Website	English
Overview of the APHIS Rangeland Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Suppression Program	2022		Management, Chemical control, Grasshoppers, Governance, Video	English	APHIS PPQ Science & Technology Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (Phoenix Station), United States Department of Agriculture
Overview of the APHIS Rangeland Grasshopper and Moron Cricket Suppression Program	2022		Video, Grasshoppers, Management, Educational video	English	United States Department of Agriculture, APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine
Pest Grasshoppers of the West	2005	View	Management, Species identification	English	University of Wyoming
Protecting U.S. rangeland from grasshoppers and Mormon crickets	2021	View	Outbreaks, Infestations, Mormon crickets, Rangeland management, insecticide	English	United States Department of Agriculture
Rangeland Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket suppression program	2019	View	Public health, Governance, Culture, Grasshoppers, Economics, Environmental assessment, Life cycle, Biology	English	United States Department of Agriculture
Rangeland Grasshopper Management	1993		Management, Species identification, Control	English	University of Wyoming, Jeffrey Lockwood, Scott Schell
The Grasshoppers of the Western U.S. Lucid mobile app	2016		Management, Species identification	English	APHIS PPQ Science & Technology Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (Phoenix Station), United States Department of Agriculture, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology of the USDA
UC Integrated Pest Management for Home Gardeners and Landscape Professionals	2013	View	Life cycle, Pesticide management, Management	English	University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
USDA APHIS historical meeting report collection			APHIS archive 2024, Historical document, Annual report, Uncurated archive, Collection	English	United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
USDA APHIS-PPQ-Science & Technology Phoenix Lab Rangeland Unit project summary	2021		Summary, Set, Project, Project report	English, Spanish, French	APHIS PPQ Science & Technology Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (Phoenix Station), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture
Utah grasshopper and Mormon cricket report	2011	View	Data analysis, Grasshoppers	English	APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, Clint Burfitt, Greg Abbott
Utah pests fact sheet	2008	View	Chemical control, Biological control, Ecology, Infestations, Habitat, Outbreaks, Species identification	English	Utah State University, Edward W. Evans, Erin W. Hodgson

Rangeland portal / Utah