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Reproductive Habits of Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are found all over the world and the term refers to both insects called grasshoppers and those referred to as locusts. These plant-eating creatures can cause serious damage to agricultural crops, which in turn may result in famine and significant economic loss. Unfortunately, grasshoppers reproduce quickly and in large numbers.They have the ability to survive even harsh winters in the egg, hatching out once the weather is favorable.

Courtship
- Grasshopper courtship begins with the male rubbing his lower back legs against his forewings to create a song, similar to the song a cricket produces. Females also sing, but they sing more softly than the males. These sounds enable grasshoppers to find others of the correct sex and species. A few species make no noise, and find one another by sight or by following scent trails of pheromones. Once the grasshopper finds a potential mate, the male may display brightly colored wings, contort himself into elaborate poses, or engage in other unique behaviors to woo the female. A few species of grasshoppers do not court at all and mate immediately after finding a suitable prospect.
Mating
- During mating, the male grasshopper climbs on top of the female, grasping her with his front legs. Then he introduces sperm into the vagina using a reproductive organ called an aedeagus. This organ delivers a package called a spermatophore. The mating process can take from 45 minutes to more than a day. In some species of grasshoppers, the female mates with several males.
Laying Eggs
- Like many other species of insects, grasshoppers lay eggs. These eggs are normally laid in groups and enclosed by a structure called an egg pod. These pods can contain between 4 and 40 eggs, and each female may produce between 4 and 25 pods. The egg pods are normally laid in soil, though some grasshopper species prefer to lay their eggs in wood, animal manure or among the roots of plants.
Timing
- Grasshoppers normally mate and deposit their eggs during the summer and autumn, allowing the eggs to spend the winter in the soil. Embryonic grasshoppers develop only when the weather is favorable. Once the outside temperature becomes too cold for the embryos, they stop developing and development resumes once the weather warms up again-normally in the spring. To keep the embryos from "waking up" in the middle of a warm winter, grasshoppers require a long cold period before they can resume activity. This prevents the babies from becoming active too early and freezing when the weather cools again.

Insects & Science