Grasshoppers Thriving During Western Drought

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Their numbers swelled by the drought, grasshoppers and Mormon crickets are ravaging crops across the West in what could be the biggest such infestation since World War II. “They’re even eating the paint off some of the houses,� said Nebraska farmer Robert Larson.

A mild winter and hot, dry weather since the spring have sped up the maturation of some grasshopper species and allowed more of the insects and their eggs to survive the cold. The drought also has cut into the population of birds and rodents that prey on grasshoppers, and reduced the fungal diseases that normally keep the insects’ numbers down.