Most grasshoppers are generalist herbivores that thrive on a mix of fresh grasses and broadleaf plants, making them relatively easy to feed whether you are keeping one as a pet, raising them as feeder insects, or just trying to understand the ones in your yard. The specific menu depends on the species, but the broad rule is variety: a rotating selection of grasses, leafy greens, and the occasional vegetable will cover most grasshoppers’ nutritional needs. Getting the balance right matters more than most people expect, because grasshoppers actively regulate what they eat to hit specific protein and carbohydrate targets.
What Grasshoppers Eat in the Wild
Grasshoppers as a group span a wide dietary range, from species that eat only one type of plant to those that munch on dozens. Most fall somewhere in the middle, eating several to many plant species depending on what is available.1PubMed. Feeding patterns in grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae): Factors influencing diet specialization The family tree matters here. Grasshoppers in the subfamily Gomphocerinae, which includes many of the common field grasshoppers, are primarily grass feeders. Those in the Melanoplinae, a large group that includes the familiar differential grasshopper and the two-striped grasshopper, lean toward forbs, meaning broadleaf flowering plants like clover, dandelion, and lettuce-family weeds. A third major group, the Oedipodinae (band-winged grasshoppers), tends to be less picky and will eat both grasses and forbs.
Even within grass-feeding species, not all grasses are equal. One well-studied grassland species, when offered a mix of grass types, consistently chose certain species over others and actively avoided some. Ryegrass and cocksfoot were strongly preferred, while red fescue was avoided at every life stage from nymph to adult.2Journal of Orthoptera Research. Feeding preferences of Chorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Another grass-feeding species showed a clear preference for cool-season grasses over warm-season grasses when both were available.3PubMed. Differential herbivory on C(3) versus C(4) grasses by the grasshopper Ageneotettix deorum (Orthoptera: acrididae) The practical takeaway: if you are picking grass from outside to feed a captive grasshopper, the soft, green, actively growing grass in a shady spot is more likely to be eaten than the tough, sun-baked grass along a dry sidewalk.
Some grasshopper lineages show preferences that lean more toward shrubs and leafy plants than grasses altogether. Alpine grasshoppers studied in New Zealand preferred broadleaf plants over grasses, readily eating a particular shrub while ignoring offered grass species entirely.4Springer / Chemoecology. Food plant odor perception in three sympatric alpine grasshopper species (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Catantopinae) in Aotearoa New Zealand If your grasshopper ignores the grass you offer and goes straight for the lettuce, it is not being weird. It is likely a forb-feeder by nature.
A Simple Captive Diet
For most common grasshopper species you are likely to encounter or keep, a good starting diet includes fresh grass clippings, romaine lettuce, and one or two other leafy vegetables rotated every few days. Wheat grass, oat grass, and barley grass are easy to grow at home in a shallow tray and make excellent staple food. If you have access to a pesticide-free lawn, handfuls of fresh grass work well too. Supplement with leafy greens from the grocery store: romaine lettuce, butterhead lettuce, spinach in small amounts, kale, and dandelion greens. Avoid iceberg lettuce, which is mostly water with very little nutritional value.
Sliced vegetables like carrot, zucchini, sweet potato, and broccoli florets can round out the diet. Some keepers offer small pieces of apple or banana as an occasional treat; grasshoppers do eat these, but fruit is high in sugar and low in the fiber and protein they need, so it should not be a regular feature. Dry foods like wheat bran, oat flakes, or dry grass hay can be left in the enclosure as a backup when fresh food dries out between feedings.
Fresh food should be offered daily or every other day, and old food removed before it molds. A shallow dish of water or a damp sponge provides moisture, though grasshoppers get most of their water from their food. Misting the enclosure lightly once a day can help, especially in dry indoor environments, but avoid making the substrate soggy, as standing moisture promotes mold and bacterial growth.
Why Variety Matters More Than You Think
Grasshoppers do not just eat whatever is in front of them. Research on nutrient balancing shows that they actively regulate their intake of protein and carbohydrates. When given access to foods with different nutritional profiles, both specialist and generalist grasshoppers selected a balanced diet from the options available. Generalist species chose proportionally more protein than grass-specialist species did, suggesting that forb-feeding grasshoppers have higher protein needs or targets.5PubMed. Nutrient balancing in grasshoppers: behavioural and physiological correlates of dietary breadth When confined to a single unbalanced food, grasshoppers adjusted how much they ate to try to compensate, eating more of a low-protein food to get enough protein, or less of a high-protein food to avoid excess.
This self-regulation has a practical implication for captive care. If you offer only one food, even a nutritious one, the grasshopper may overeat or undereat trying to hit its internal nutritional targets. A monotonous diet of romaine lettuce alone, for example, provides plenty of water and carbohydrate but relatively little protein. A grasshopper stuck on lettuce-only will eat a lot of it but may still end up nutritionally deficient. Offering a mix of at least three to four different plant foods at a time lets the grasshopper do what it would do in the wild: graze selectively to build its own balanced meal.
How Grasshoppers Choose What to Eat
A grasshopper does not just wander into a plant and start chewing. It uses smell and touch to evaluate potential food before committing to a bite. The antennae are loaded with sensory receptors, and studies of how grasshoppers respond to plant-derived chemicals show that they are highly sensitive to certain volatile compounds released by plants, particularly fatty acid derivatives and green-leaf volatiles like hexanal, the chemical responsible for the “freshly cut grass” smell.6Springer / Chemoecology. Food plant odor perception in three sympatric alpine grasshopper species (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Catantopinae) in Aotearoa New Zealand Terpenoids and aromatic compounds, which are abundant in herbs like mint and lavender, triggered weaker responses in the species tested. This lines up with the common observation that grasshoppers tend to leave strong-smelling herbs alone.
Physical toughness also plays a real filtering role. Grasshopper mandibles work like a pair of scissors and a grinding plate combined, and the amount of force they can generate is closely matched to the toughness of the plants they eat in the wild. Research on the biomechanics of mandible strength found a strong relationship between how tough a grasshopper’s preferred plants are and how powerful its jaws have evolved to be.7Functional Ecology. Herbivory mediated by coupling between biomechanical traits of plants and grasshoppers The ratio between jaw strength and plant toughness predicted how much of a given plant the grasshopper actually ate. A young nymph with small, weak mandibles physically cannot handle the same tough leaves that an adult can, which is one reason nymphs tend to prefer tender, thin-leaved grasses and shift toward thicker-leaved plants as they grow.8Journal of Orthoptera Research. Feeding preferences of Chorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
If you are feeding nymphs, tear or finely chop leafy greens and offer the most tender leaves available. Mature adults can handle tougher fare. This is one reason wheat grass grown at home works so well: the young shoots are soft enough for nymphs, and you can let some grow taller and tougher for adults.
What Not to Feed
The biggest hazard is not the wrong plant, it is pesticides. Grasshoppers are insects, and insecticides work on them just as effectively as they do on the pests they are designed for. Grass collected from lawns treated with herbicides, insecticides, or combination fertilizer-plus-pest-control products can sicken or kill a captive grasshopper quickly. Baited pest products used in gardens and homes can also attract and poison grasshoppers.9PubMed Central. A systematic review of pesticide exposure, associated risks, and long-term human health impacts If you are collecting wild plants, pick from areas you are confident have not been sprayed, and wash everything thoroughly.
Beyond pesticides, some plants are naturally avoided by grasshoppers for good reason. Strongly aromatic herbs like mint, basil, rosemary, and lavender contain high concentrations of terpenoids and essential oils that grasshoppers seem to find unpalatable based on their weak antennal response to those chemical classes. Plants in the nightshade family, including tomato leaves and potato leaves, contain alkaloids that are toxic to many insects. Onion, garlic, and leek are similarly avoided. You do not need to memorize a list: if a plant smells pungent or has a bitter, milky sap, grasshoppers will usually avoid it on their own. The concern is more about not trapping them with only those options and nothing else to eat.
Processed human foods, bread, cereal, and anything cooked should be avoided. Grasshoppers are adapted to digest raw plant material, and their gut bacteria are tuned to break down cellulose and hemicellulose from fresh plant tissue.10PubMed Central. Analysis of Intestinal Microbial Diversity of Four Species of Grasshoppers and Determination of Cellulose Digestibility Offering cooked or processed foods can disrupt that microbial community and cause digestive problems.
Feeding Nymphs Versus Adults
Grasshopper nymphs go through five or six molts before reaching adulthood, and their dietary needs shift at each stage. Young nymphs, freshly hatched and only a few millimeters long, need soft, moist food. Tender grass shoots, young clover leaves, and finely shredded romaine lettuce are good starting options. The food pieces should be small enough that the nymphs can access them without climbing over large, unwieldy leaves.
As nymphs grow, they can handle progressively tougher and larger food items. Studies tracking feeding preferences across life stages found that younger nymphs focused heavily on thin-leaved grasses, while older nymphs and adults shifted toward larger, thicker-leaved species.11Journal of Orthoptera Research. Feeding preferences of Chorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) This is partly about jaw strength, as noted above, but it may also reflect changing nutritional targets. Growing nymphs need more protein to build new tissue at each molt, which aligns with the finding that generalist species, many of which eat protein-rich forbs, tend to select higher-protein diets.12PubMed. Nutrient balancing in grasshoppers: behavioural and physiological correlates of dietary breadth
For captive nymphs, this means you should lean more heavily on protein-containing plant foods early on: young dandelion greens, clover, and alfalfa sprouts are good choices. Adults can handle a broader and tougher range of foods, and their protein needs are somewhat lower relative to body mass, so a higher proportion of grass and fibrous vegetables is fine.
Gut-Loading for Feeder Grasshoppers
If you are raising grasshoppers as food for reptiles, amphibians, or birds, the diet you feed the grasshoppers directly affects the nutrition your pet receives. This process, often called gut-loading, means intentionally feeding the grasshoppers a nutrient-dense diet in the 24 to 48 hours before they become a meal. The chemical composition of a grasshopper’s body closely reflects what it has been eating.13Annals of Animal Science. The Nutritional Value of Grasshoppers and Locusts – A Review A grasshopper fed only on iceberg lettuce will have a very different nutritional profile than one raised on dark leafy greens, carrots, and wheat bran.
Good gut-loading foods include collard greens, mustard greens, butternut squash, sweet potato, and commercial gut-load diets formulated for feeder insects. Calcium is usually the nutrient reptile keepers are most concerned about, so calcium-rich greens like collard greens and turnip greens are popular choices. Dusting the grasshoppers with calcium powder right before feeding them to your pet is standard practice, but gut-loading ensures the nutrition goes deeper than a surface coating.
How Grasshoppers Digest Tough Plant Material
You might wonder how a small insect can thrive on a diet of grass and leaves, which are loaded with cellulose that most animals cannot break down efficiently. Grasshoppers rely heavily on their gut bacteria for this. Analysis of the intestinal microbial communities across several grasshopper species found that specific bacterial groups, particularly Brevibacterium and Stenotrophomonas, were strongly linked to the ability to digest cellulose and hemicellulose.14PubMed Central. Analysis of Intestinal Microbial Diversity of Four Species of Grasshoppers and Determination of Cellulose Digestibility Different grasshopper species harbored different microbial communities, which helps explain why some species can handle tougher, more fibrous diets than others.
This gut-bacteria dependence has a practical side for captive care. A grasshopper raised on one diet and suddenly switched to something completely different may have digestive trouble for a few days while its microbial community adjusts. If you are changing the diet significantly, do it gradually over several days rather than all at once. And avoid anything that might kill off gut bacteria, such as food treated with preservatives or antimicrobial sprays.
Do Grasshoppers Ever Eat Non-Plant Food?
Yes. While grasshoppers are overwhelmingly herbivorous, they are not strictly so. Under crowded conditions or when plant food is scarce, grasshoppers have been observed eating dead insects, including other grasshoppers. This cannibalistic behavior is well documented in locust swarms, where population density is extreme and food competition is intense. Captive grasshoppers kept at high density with inadequate food may also turn on each other, particularly eating freshly molted individuals whose soft exoskeletons make them vulnerable.
Some grasshoppers also eat animal-derived material opportunistically. Researchers studying insect attraction to carrion have found grasshoppers showing up at baited traps, suggesting they may seek out protein-rich animal matter on occasion. This is not something you need to provide in captivity, but it does underline the point that protein matters to grasshoppers. If your grasshoppers are cannibalizing each other, the most likely causes are overcrowding and insufficient protein in the diet. Increasing the variety of protein-rich plant foods and reducing cage density usually solves the problem.
Identifying Your Grasshopper’s Subfamily
Knowing roughly what type of grasshopper you have makes feeding easier. You do not need to identify it to species, just subfamily, which narrows the diet considerably.15PubMed. Feeding patterns in grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae): Factors influencing diet specialization
- Slant-faced grasshoppers (Gomphocerinae): These have a distinctly angled face when viewed from the side and are typically small to medium-sized. They are grass specialists. Offer mostly fresh grass, wheat grass, and oat grass, with some leafy greens as supplements.
- Spur-throated grasshoppers (Melanoplinae): This group includes many of the large, common garden grasshoppers in North America. They have a small spine or peg between the front legs. They prefer broadleaf plants, so leafy greens, clover, dandelion, and vegetables should form the core of their diet, with grass as a supplement.
- Band-winged grasshoppers (Oedipodinae): Recognizable by their colorful hind wings (often yellow, orange, or red, visible only in flight) and their tendency to land on bare ground. They are the least picky eaters and will accept both grasses and broadleaf plants readily.
If you cannot identify the subfamily, offer a mix of grass and broadleaf greens and watch what the grasshopper gravitates toward. Within a day or two, its preferences will be obvious.
Water and Humidity
Grasshoppers rarely drink from standing water the way a mammal would, and an open water dish deep enough to drown in is a genuine hazard for nymphs. Most of their moisture comes from the fresh food they eat. If you are providing fresh greens daily, additional water is often unnecessary. In dry environments or during winter when indoor heating drops humidity, lightly misting the walls of the enclosure once a day gives grasshoppers a chance to drink from droplets. A small piece of damp sponge or a shallow bottle cap filled with water and plugged with cotton also works without creating a drowning risk.
Temperature interacts with water needs. Grasshoppers kept warm, as most species prefer temperatures between 25 and 35°C (roughly 77 to 95°F), will dry out faster than those at room temperature. At higher temperatures, fresh food dries out more quickly too, so you may need to offer it twice a day or keep a backup source of moisture available. Wilted, dried-out lettuce is not very useful nutritionally. If leaves are crispy by the afternoon, replace them.