Midspring burning produced fewer grasshoppers than early burning, and late spring burning produced fewer grasshoppers than mid- or early spring burning. Kan. He measured herbivorous, non-herbivorous, and total arthropods both at night and during the day once every 2 weeks from June 6 to August 26 on formerly grazed, burned, and unburned pastures. Grazing was controlled on the burned pasture to prevent overgrazing of the burned areas. Both pastures were on a similar upland range site. He found that the burned area contained significantly greater numbers of arthropods and greater biomass than the unburned area.
Timing is a major factor in insect fire ecology.
Too much or too little litter decreases grasshopper populations. Late spring burning reduces litter and kills many of the grasshopper nymphs directly. The general consensus seems to be that late spring burning reduces insect populations more than early spring burning. This is probably due to mortality of newly hatched insect nymphs during the burn, which reduces the population potential of subsequent generations. The early spring site burned very hot due to high winds and then was grazed during the study period.