Palmer grasshoppers on two-year cycle

The grasshoppers found in the Palmer area are most likely Melanoplus sanguinipes, also known as the migratory grasshopper, according to the Cooperative Extension Service.

The species is one of several found in Alaska, and among hundreds worldwide. They like to eat everything from dandelions and Kentucky bluegrass to barley and wheat. They also consume dry materials lying on the ground, such as dead plants and cattle manure.

From mid-summer to freeze up, grasshoppers lay their eggs in pods an inch to an inch and a half beneath the soil. They prefer areas with little vegetative cover and soft, sandy soil, such as the Matanuska River bed. A single insect may lay 25 or more pods, each containing at least 20 eggs. The eggs hatch into small, wingless nymphs in mid-May to early June. The nymphs grow rapidly under hot, dry conditions and within five weeks they may reach the adult, flying stage.

Grasshoppers in Alaska seem to be on a two-year cycle, and experts are studying whether the insects need two freezes to break the eggs out of the dormant stage or the additional warmth of two summers in order to hatch. As of 1992, the grasshoppers in Alaska were on an even-yeared cycle, making this year's infestation right on schedule.

The grasshoppers feed the most from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Information courtesy the Alaska Cooperative Extension Service, specifically "Grasshoppers - 1990 , Delta Junction" by Elaine Shannon and "Grasshopper Fact Sheet" compiled by Don Quarberg.