Mischievous Bird Grasshopper

Schistocerca damnifica · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Acrididae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Mischievous Bird Grasshopper
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA

Males are 25 to 33 mm long, while females grow to 37 to 47 mm. Southern individuals have longer wings and antennae than those from the north. The southern form is sometimes called the subspecies Schistocerca damnifica calidior.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Southern specimens are sometimes designated as the subspecies Schistocerca damnifica calidior.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Males reach 25 to 33 mm, females 37 to 47 mm. Southern specimens have longer wings and antennae than northern ones.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It occurs in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 26 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana.

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

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Mischievous Bird Grasshopper photo 3
Photo: Richard Stovall, CC BY
Mischievous Bird Grasshopper photo 4
Photo: unknown, CC0
Mischievous Bird Grasshopper photo 5
Photo: lightbed, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), Public domain
Mischievous Bird Grasshopper photo 6
Photo: gailhampshire, CC BY

Same family (Acrididae)

Differential GrasshopperDifferential GrasshopperMelanoplus differentialisDamages trees, gardens or cropsTwo-striped GrasshopperTwo-striped GrasshopperMelanoplus bivittatusDamages trees, gardens or cropsCarolina GrasshopperCarolina GrasshopperDissosteira carolinaDamages trees, gardens or cropsCommon Field GrasshopperCommon Field GrasshopperChorthippus brunneusEgyptian Bird GrasshopperEgyptian Bird GrasshopperAnacridium aegyptiumGray Bird GrasshopperGray Bird GrasshopperSchistocerca nitensDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistocerca_damnifica

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.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.