What Repels Grasshoppers & Locusts?

Farmers rely on crops for food and income. Grasshopper or locusts infestations threaten a harvest by deteriorating the crops. There are ways to repel and manage grasshoppers.

Farmers rely on crops for food and income. Grasshopper or locusts infestations threaten a harvest by deteriorating the crops. There are ways to repel and manage grasshoppers.

Planting repellent crops like horebound herb, calendula and cilantro will prevent grasshoppers from infesting your crops. Spraying garlic oil, neem oil, henbit tea or hot-pepper spray around the crop barriers is also effectual. You can also cover your garden crops with row covers.

The grasshopper population can be suppressed by their natural enemies. Snakes, toads, cats, skunks, birds, spiders, chickens and preying mantis feed on grasshoppers. Some birds, such as brown thrashers and crows, feed on grasshoppers. Rodents, such as field mice, eat the grasshoppers and the egg pods.

Because grasshoppers lay eggs in the soil, it can be difficult to kill them off. Nosema locustae will poison the grasshoppers. Black strap molasses, diatomaceious, nolo bait and insecticidal soap also kill grasshoppers. It is advisable to do this during the nymph, or young adult, stage.

Grasshoppers may be cute when they're depicted in cartoons, but they're not so welcome in your garden or lawn. This allows them to make their way through your garden eating foliage, flowers, fruits and vegetables. Although grasshoppers are present every year, their numbers vary, depending on environmental conditions. Weather that leads to high populations of grasshoppers features warm, extended autumns followed by dry, warm spring seasons. Grasshopper adults tend to be active from June through September. Grasshoppers lay their eggs in the soil in the fall, and they prefer laying them in undisturbed, weedy areas. You can do this by covering crops with a row cover. Other sprays are made from plant materials that repel insects, such as neem oil from the neem tree. Such an individual will treat vegetation with an insecticide spray for grasshoppers.