However, during years when grasshoppers are extremely abundant and food is scarce, they feed on almost all plants. Grasshoppers generally don't feed on most trees and shrubs. However, these may provide convenient resting sites and grasshoppers often are found on them. Grasshoppers may nibble on foliage and tender bark, causing considerable injury over the course of a season. Established plants tolerate this leaf loss and usually recover and suffer little long-term injury.
Grasshoppers breed and develop in dry, undisturbed sites such as pastures, empty lots and roadsides.
As the plants in these areas dry out or are eaten, the grasshoppers move to the lusher growth found in yards and Gardens. Successful management must include breeding areas. Grasshopper controls applied strictly to the yard will almost always achieve poor results because of problems with continuing reinvasion. Where high populations of grasshopper nymphs are detected, generally more than 10 per square yard, treat promptly to prevent later problems in adjacent yards. Options for grasshopper control in these breeding areas include insecticides formulated as either sprays or baits.