Yellow Grasshoppers

[KSQ2]

We are overrun again this year by grasshoppers. I’m assuming the huge numbers of them last year (they thrive during drought years) are what has led to the big numbers this year. We’ve had enough rain to keep the parasites that feed on them going I’m assuming. Hopefully this isn’t going to become a regular occurrence. Anyway, they have absolutely consumed the leaves on several of our pear and apple trees here at the house. I’m hoping there will not be any long term damage. Do I have reason to be concerned?

 

[forkhorn]

Do I have reason to be concerned?

Are they eating off all of the buds and/or eating off the bark? Depending on the size of tree, it might be worth looking into preventing more damage like that. At this point (if adults) they are harder to kill. I had used Pyrethrin one year to keep them from chewing on things on small apples, but any rain would wash it off. They moved in late summer, and worked the trees until October.

 

[KSQ2]

Are they eating off all of the buds and/or eating off the bark? Depending on the size of tree, it might be worth looking into preventing more damage like that. At this point (if adults) they are harder to kill. I had used Pyrethrin one year to keep them from chewing on things on small apples, but any rain would wash it off. They moved in late summer, and worked the trees until October.

It just appears they are eating the leaves. It's not a drought year like we've had in the past, so there is plenty for them to eat. It just seems they prefer the fruit tree leaves.

 

[yoderjac]

If you want to look at the bright side, think about turkey poults. When we get cicada hatches here, Turkeys go nuts for them!

 

[forkhorn]

Turkeys go nuts for them!

One year during a bad outbreak (drought), we watched a hen turkey fly up into a 20' tall mulberry tree and fill up the grasshoppers that were defoliating it.

 

[KSQ2]

If you want to look at the bright side, think about turkey poults. When we get cicada hatches here, Turkeys go nuts for them!

I was thinking the same, but for quail.

 

[yoderjac]

I was thinking the same, but for quail.

I certainly won't hurt quail, but I wonder if it benefits them as much. I would guess adult quail may benefit from them. With turkey, poults are generally large enough to eat quite large grasshoppers by summer. It the poults that really need the nutrition for that growth spurt. I'm not sure at what point quail chicks can handle large grasshopers. They may benefit more from smaller insects. I know the bicolor lespedeza we use as field buffers produces millions of tiny seeds that provide great winter food for quail.

We used to have several coveys of quail on our place, but as the pines grew up and the habitat changed, we don't see them much lately. I'll occasionally hear a male during spring gobbler season, so I know they haven't disappeared completely. I'm hoping our most recent heavy thinning brings them back in greater numbers.

Of course, I guess it depends on how large your grasshoppers are.

 

[KSQ2]

I certainly won't hurt quail, but I wonder if it benefits them as much. I would guess adult quail may benefit from them. With turkey, poults are generally large enough to eat quite large grasshoppers by summer. It the poults that really need the nutrition for that growth spurt. I'm not sure at what point quail chicks can handle large grasshopers. They may benefit more from smaller insects. I know the bicolor lespedeza we use as field buffers produces millions of tiny seeds that provide great winter food for quail.

We used to have several coveys of quail on our place, but as the pines grew up and the habitat changed, we don't see them much lately. I'll occasionally hear a male during spring gobbler season, so I know they haven't disappeared completely. I'm hoping our most recent heavy thinning brings them back in greater numbers.

Of course, I guess it depends on how large your grasshoppers are.

Quail will go after big grasshoppers in a heartbeat; little ones will rip a grasshopper apart. Poultry, both domestic and wild, are much more aggressive than most people realize. I have a buddy who raised quail for years.

 

[yoderjac]

Quail will go after big grasshoppers in a heartbeat; little ones will rip a grasshopper apart. Poultry, both domestic and wild, are much more aggressive than most people realize. I have a buddy who raised quail for years.

Cool, I didn't realize that. I just figured they swallowed them pretty much whole and they got ground up in the gizzard.