I always thought all grasshoppers ate plant matter. It turns out I was wrong. Some grasshoppers such as the Swayer Katydids are predators that eat other small insects. When you see a grasshopper on a plant it may not be causing the holes in your leaf, it may be about to eat the creature that is!
Learning this was a great reminder that careful observation is a vital ingredient to successful organic gardening. When you see an insect in your garden take some time to observe what it is doing and eating before you feed it to the chickens. It is a good idea to keep in mind that most insects spend different parts of their lives in completely different forms. That's why I usually leave the caterpillars alone, because I love having the butterflies around and it is worth a few leaves on my citrus trees. Most of the caterpillars don't last long anyway. The birds eat the majority of them.
If you do happen to have leaf eating grasshoppers and they are causing problems in your garden birds are really your best friend for organic pest control. Some insects enjoy eating grasshoppers too including paper wasps and robber flies. Everything in the insect world is eaten by something else, it is just a matter of finding out who eats what and trying to create the right environment for the ones you want to encourage in your garden.
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Thanks for sharing the great photo. I found a great site that contained information about the New Zealand native Mantis and the South African Mantis and explained how you might tell them apart. http://www.canterburynature.org/species/lincoln_essays/nzmantis.php After reading the information here and then looking closely at your photo I would guess that it is the South African species but that is only a guess. I hope that helps.
Earl Mardle said:
Agreed, what with the birds and the parasitic wasps, caterpillars have little chance in my garden these days, can't even produce monarchs.
As for katydids/manits eating other insects, sometimes they get beneficial insects as well. I found this in my weeping rosemary a while back
We also have a problem here with South African mantis which are voracious and eat the native mantis as well.
Replies
Earl Mardle said:
As for katydids/manits eating other insects, sometimes they get beneficial insects as well. I found this in my weeping rosemary a while back
We also have a problem here with South African mantis which are voracious and eat the native mantis as well.
Can anyone tell which this is?