{"id":8204,"date":"2026-05-17T19:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/?p=8204"},"modified":"2026-05-17T19:41:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:41:38","slug":"grasshoppers-an-unpredictable-pest-phillip-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/2026\/05\/grasshoppers-an-unpredictable-pest-phillip-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"Grasshoppers: An Unpredictable Pest (Phillip Roberts)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have received numerous questions about grasshoppers in strip till cotton this past week. Dr. Roberts passed on a great article about grasshoppers in the May edition of the UGA Cotton Newsletter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grasshopper problems are sporadic, isolated, and almost always associated with reduced tillage fields. We have received multiple calls in the last week regarding grasshoppers. Grasshoppers overwinter in egg cases which were deposited in the soil last fall. Increased overwintering survival and emergence in the spring are associated with dry conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grasshoppers also appear to be more problematic on lighter soils, often occurring on the same farm from year to year. Grasshopper damage is unpredictable but can potentially threaten a stand. Grasshoppers may feed on foliage, but most economic damage occurs when grasshoppers feed on the main stem of emerging (in the crook stage, cracking) or small seedlings. Be sure to scout fields infested with grasshoppers as cotton begins to emerge. In some situations, grasshoppers may completely sever the stem, but more often they will chew partially through the stem weakening the plant which often will fall over at the wound site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In fields infested with grasshoppers, be sure to walk fields looking for immature (wingless) grasshoppers which emerge from the soil. If you are observing immature grasshoppers, it is likely that more grasshoppers will emerge in the next few weeks. Also be aware that adult grasshoppers may be migrating into fields from vegetation bordering fields.
Feeding injury from grasshoppers is unpredictable. We have observed fields with high grasshopper infestations with little feeding on cotton. However, we occasionally walked fields which required a replant, most of the replant situations occurred when it was very dry. Potentially grasshoppers are feeding on the seedlings in search of moisture. Immature or wingless grasshoppers are susceptible to several insecticides. However, adults are much more difficult to control. Higher rates of labeled insecticides should be used when targeting adults. Our most consistent treatment for adult grasshoppers has been 0.75 lbs\/acre of acephate. Our standard thrips rate of acephate usually provides control of immatures. In fields with high populations of immature grasshoppers consider including 2 ozs\/acre of Dimilin which is an insect growth regulator that provides extended residual and good control of immatures. Dimilin will not control adult grasshoppers. Unfortunately, we do not have a threshold for grasshoppers in cotton. Preventive insecticide applications are a judgment call. As cotton emerges, treatment decisions should be based on seedling damage (i.e. if the stand threatened).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have questions about grasshoppers or any other insects in cotton please contact your local county Extension agent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have received numerous questions about grasshoppers in strip till cotton this past week. Dr. Roberts passed on a great article about grasshoppers in the May edition of the UGA Cotton Newsletter. Grasshopper problems are sporadic, isolated, and almost always associated with reduced tillage fields. We have received multiple calls in the last week regarding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cotton","category-entolomogy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8204"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8208,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8204\/revisions\/8208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}