Adult differential grasshoppers are brown to olive green and yellow and up to 1-3/4 inches long. Some individuals are melanistic (black) in all instars. The hind legs are enlarged for jumping and are marked with chevron-like black markings.
Winter is spent in the egg stage, or during mild winters as an adult. Eggs are deposited in 1 inch long packet-like masses or pods 1/2 to 2 inches deep in the soil and sod clumps. Each packet can contain many (over 25) eggs. Eggs are laid in grassy areas of uncultivated land such as roadsides, field margins and pastures. Tiny grasshopper nymphs hatch from eggs in the spring. Nymphs resemble wingless adults and develop (molt) through five or six stages (instars) as they grow larger and develop wing pads. Nymphs develop into adults in 40 to 60 days. There is generally one generation per year.
Large numbers of grasshoppers can injure a wide variety of plants. Grasshoppers make excellent fishing bait!
One way to control grasshopper populations is to eliminate sites where they might deposit eggs. Grasshoppers prefer undisturbed areas for egg laying, so tilling beds in mid- to late summer discourages females.