Includes
Migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguinipes)
Red-legged grasshopper (Melanoplus femurrubrum)
Pest description and crop damage Infestations are most likely where sugar beet fields immediately adjoin grasshopper breeding sites in uncultivated grassy rangelands and desert areas. Grasshoppers are problems especially when rangeland vegetation dries earlier than normal, and they move to still-green field crops.
Scouting and thresholds No formal economic thresholds exist for grasshopper insecticide treatment decisions. Consider treating field edges where grasshoppers are advancing rather than entire fields.
Management-biological control
Beauveria bassiana-containing products are available in commercial formulations (Table 3).
Management-chemical control
Several post-emergence insecticides are available (Table 2).