Are grasshoppers taking over your garden? Within the last week, we've received several reports of large populations of these pests covering people's plants, especially in Northern California.

Grasshoppers are a sporadic garden pest. Some years you might only notice and few, and other years their populations can boom. Outbreaks usually occur every 8 to 10 years in California, sometimes lasting 1 to 3 years.

The most destructive and widespread grasshopper species is known as the “devastating grasshopper” or Melanoplus devastator. Adults are light gray to tan with dark stripes on their legs. Nymphs are pale yellow,...