Bug FAQGray Bird Grasshopper
Schistocerca nitens · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Acrididae
Also called: Grey Bird Grasshopper, Vagrant Grasshopper
Source: Wikipedia
Adult females are about 60 to 70 mm long and males 40 to 50 mm, making them fairly large grasshoppers. They live in deserts, woodlands and lower mountain areas across southern North America, Mexico, and parts of Central and South America.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults show mottled gray, brown and yellow tones and a stripe running from head to thorax.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females measure 60 to 70 mm and males 40 to 50 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
They are known to damage ornamental plants and various crops.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They inhabit deserts, woodlands and lower elevation mountains.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They feed on ornamental plants and many crop species, acting as a pest.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
They reach sexual maturity after three to four months. Females lay eggs in late summer or early fall, inserting them 1 to 2 inches deep into soil.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
All life stages can appear year-round, but adults are less active in winter and fall. Mating occurs on warm summer nights, often near bright lights.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Native to southern North America from California to Texas and Mexico. Also found in parts of Central and South America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
A close relative is the desert locust, which shares the same genus.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 18 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Arizona, Texas, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Utah.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants do they damage?
They feed on and damage ornamental garden plants as well as many crop species.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Acrididae)
Differential GrasshopperMelanoplus differentialisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Two-striped GrasshopperMelanoplus bivittatusDamages trees, gardens or crops
Carolina GrasshopperDissosteira carolinaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Field GrasshopperChorthippus brunneus
Egyptian Bird GrasshopperAnacridium aegyptium
Meadow GrasshopperPseudochorthippus parallelusSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistocerca_nitens
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.