What is Grasshopper?
{{Taxobox | name = Caelifera |fossil_range= late [[Permian]] {{ndash}} Recent | image = Young grasshopper on grass stalk02.jpg | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Immature grasshopper | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Arthropoda]] | subphylum = [[Hexapoda]] | classis = [[Insecta]] | ordo = [[Orthoptera]] | subordo = '''Caelifera''' }} [[File:Two eastern Lubber grasshopers (Romalea microptera), mating.jpg|thumb|220px|''Romalea guttata'' grasshoppers mating]] '''Grasshoppers''' are insects with long, powerful back legs which they use for jumping. They generally live in dry habitats, such as fields, gardens and meadows, with lots of grass. They are in the suborder '''Caelifera''', which includes [[locust]]s. There are 11,000 species, of which 10,000 are in the family [[Acrididae]]. To distinguish grasshoppers from [[bush-cricket]]s or [[katydid]]s, they are sometimes referred to as the ''short-horned grasshopper''. Species which change colour and behaviour at high population densities are called [[locusts]]. Grasshoppers prefer to eat [[grasses]], [[leaves]] and [[cereal]] [[crops]], but many grasshoppers are omnivorous.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://openagricola.nal.usda.gov/Record/IND21638560|title=Grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Foraging on grasshopper feces: observational and rubidium-labeling studies|authors=O'Neill, Kevin M.; Woods, Stephen A.; Streett, Douglas A.|journal=Environmental Entomology|volume=26|issue=6|year=1997|pages=1224–1231|doi=10.1093/ee/26.6.1224|access-date=2013-07-03|archive-date=2015-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131913/http://openagricola.nal.usda.gov/Record/IND21638560|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many grasshoppers eat from several host plants in one day, while others stay on one host plant. One of the 8000 species of grasshopper eats only a single species of plant.<ref>Davidowitz, Goggy. [http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_grasshopper_new.php Grasshoppers]. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum</ref> == As food == Grasshoppers make good food for some. As an