During an infestation grasshoppers incur considerable crop damage, grain, corn, cotton, and fruit and vegetable crops their main targets. Natural predators like birds, beetles, snakes and small mammals normally keep numbers under control, as do applied chemicals. Like most beetle species, however, grasshoppers tend to build up an immunity to insecticides over time. Grasshoppers grow to a size of about 1 inch and are able to jump close to 2 feet in a single bound. They have six feet and four wings and their stiff outer shell is called an exoskeleton.
Grasshoppers also come equipped with five eyes.
The other eyes are located on the antennae. What purpose they serve remains undetermined. Female grasshoppers lay eggs in large numbers in late summer and early autumn in clusters of 2-100, and after lying dormant over winter the young emerge in the spring. These nymphs are born wingless and require about 2 months to mature into adults. They are able to change colour to blend in with their habitat and avoid predators.