Bug FAQRocky Mountain Locust
Melanoplus spretus · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Acrididae
Also called: Rocky Mountain grasshopper
Source: Wikipedia
The Rocky Mountain locust was a huge grasshopper that lived across the western United States and parts of Canada and swarmed in the late 1800s, destroying crops and other materials. It fed on grass, crops, leather, wood, sheep's wool and sometimes even people's clothing, and farmers tried many methods such as gunpowder, fires and poisoned plows to stop it, but none succeeded.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
The locusts damaged household items such as leather, wood, wool and clothing.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Farmers tried gunpowder, fires, trench burns, poisoned plows, and vacuum-like devices, but none stopped the swarms.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Their diet included grass, valuable crops, leather, wood, sheep's wool and occasionally clothing.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The last known specimen was collected in Colorado in 1904, and the species was extinct within about 30 years after that.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Major swarms occurred between 1873 and 1877, causing massive crop damage across several states.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 12 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How did people try to control Rocky Mountain locust swarms?
They used gunpowder, set fires (sometimes in trenches), employed poisoned plows called hopperdozers, and even vacuum-like machines, but all methods failed.
Source: Wikipedia
When did the biggest Rocky Mountain locust swarms happen?
The largest swarms occurred from 1873 to 1877, causing huge crop losses in many states.
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/Rocky_Mountain_locust
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.