Differential grasshopper Facts for Kids
Melanoplus differentialis · mel-AN-oh-plus dif-er-en-shee-AL-iss
A big jumping insect that eats grasses and leafy plants.
- 🏃 speed: not yet checked
- ⚖️ weight: not yet checked
- 📏 1.2 to 1.6 in3 to 4 cm1 long
- 🎂 lifespan: not yet checked
- 🍽️ plants
- Not on the Red List (Not assessed)
A grasshopper is an insect with long back legs for jumping. This is one kind, the differential grasshopper. It eats grasses and leafy plants.
The differential grasshopper is one kind of grasshopper. Its big back legs fold up like springs, and it kicks them out to jump. It has wings, so it can fly too. It likes grasses, and it also eats clover, alfalfa and corn.
Grasshoppers do not hatch as tiny copies with wings. A young grasshopper is called a nymph, and it looks like a small adult with no wings. It grows by shedding its skin again and again until it is a grown grasshopper with wings. The differential grasshopper lays its eggs in the ground, and they stay there through the winter. Farmers watch for grasshoppers, because many together can eat a lot of a crop.
How big is a differential grasshopper?
Differential grasshopper in numbers
| Length | 1.2 to 1.6 in3 to 4 cm1body length; males are smaller than females |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | no checked number yet |
| Top speed | no checked number yet |
| How long it lives | no checked number yet |
| What it eats | grasses, clover, alfalfa, corn and garden plants |
| Where it lives | fields, gardens and plowed land, most often on low, moist ground |
| What kind | Bugs and other animals without backbones |
| Is it in danger? | Not on the Red List (Not assessed) |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- A young grasshopper is called a nymph, and it has no wings.
- A grasshopper sheds its skin again and again as it grows.
- Its eggs rest in the ground all winter.
Compare the differential grasshopper
Friends and neighbours
Seven-spotted ladybug
Honey bee
Monarch butterflyThree questions
Books about the differential grasshopper, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the differential grasshopper for free.
For teachers
Use this animal in class: its facts are on this page, and the cards print from it.
Where these numbers come from
- University of Wyoming, Grasshoppers of Colorado: Melanoplus differentialis, checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, Differential grasshopper (Q5275348), checked 30 October 2026.