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Red-Legged Grasshopper

A red-legged grasshopper perches atop the flowers of tall goldenrod. Considered to be the most common of all North American grasshopper species, red-legged grasshoppers have the potential to become urban and agricultural pests. However, cool, moist weather, egg parasites and predation by birds and rodents usually keep their numbers in check. Adults of this species often survive the first killing frosts of autumn. Egg masses already in place below the soil surface assure next year's crop of grasshoppers.