Bug FAQLarge Marsh Grasshopper
Stethophyma grossum · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Acrididae
The large marsh grasshopper is a fairly big grasshopper; females are about 26 to 39 mm long and males 12 to 25 mm. It is usually olive-brown to greenish-yellow, sometimes with purple, and has a black stripe behind each eye with a pale line reaching the wing edges. It lives in wet meadows and marshes, especially in quaking sphagnum moss bogs in southern England.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Most have olive-brown to greenish-yellow bodies, though some show purple tones. A black stripe runs behind each eye and a pale line extends to the upper wing edges.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females reach 25.9 to 39.1 mm in body length, while males are smaller at 11.8 to 25 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Typical habitats are wet meadows and marshes across its range.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
After mating, females lay elongated egg pods at the bases of grass tussocks, each pod holding up to 14 eggs.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species completes its life cycle in one year; eggs overwinter and hatch as nymphs from late May.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults appear from late July or early August and remain until late September or October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It occurs throughout Europe and has a few records from western Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I expect to see adult large marsh grasshoppers?
Adults show up in late July or early August and stay around until late September or October.
Source: Wikipedia
What habitats do they prefer?
They live in wet meadows and marshes, and in southern England they are especially common in quaking sphagnum moss bogs.
Source: Wikipedia
How big are they?
Females are about 26 to 39 mm long, while males range from roughly 12 to 25 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I recognize them?
They are olive-brown to greenish-yellow, sometimes with purple, have a black stripe behind each eye and a pale line that runs to the wing edges.
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
Gray Bird GrasshopperSchistocerca nitensDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_marsh_grasshopper
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.