More Schistocerca americana

Schistocerca americana (also known as the American Bird Grasshopper) love to eat. Below is a photo of some that are a couple of weeks old at feeding time. They are feasting on some homegrown lettuce from our caterpillar tunnel.

Schistocerca americana nymphs hatch

There have been struggles recently with consistent hatches. After speaking with several entomologists, I began to follow of different hatching protocol for Schistocerca americana egg pods. Today was the day the first egg pod was supposed to hatch and it happened right on time. Several dozen nymphs have hatched and more are on the way.  

Schistocerca americana nymph

This one container holds 3 or 4 egg pods. This is the first one to hatch and the first one laid. So there should be several more hundred that will hatch from this container in the coming days.

The above video shows the newly hatched nymphs in their new home. The following video shows a side view of the egg pod container. Hatching nymphs can be seen (they are bright green) below the surface in the cavity left by the egg pod.

Work also continues on M. differentialis, but for now the focus of production will be on S. americana. 

Grasshopper Feeding Time

I have been growing several different types of grasses for the grasshoppers to feed on. This spring I planted milo, sudan grass, and wheat in my family's garden. I know that Melanoplus differentialis enjoy eating sudan grass since that is what I feed the wild caught insects last fall until frost.

Grasshopper feed right out of the garden.

 The grasshoppers really enjoyed some fresh produce straight from the garden. I am sure it was a welcomed treat considering they usually are fed romaine lettuce grown somewhere on the west coast of the U.S. I cut the trio of grasses and took them right in to feed to the hoppers. Talk about a fresh meal.

Thoptera Growth

Thoptera, the only US commercial grasshopper breeding operation (as far as we know) is ramping up....

The first generation of hatched Melanoplus differentialis (Differential) grasshopper nymphs are reaching maturity. Several are now starting to lay egg pods.

Differential Grasshoppers basking in an incandescent heat bulb. Some are attached to the outer wall screen. Others are perched on a wire basking frame inside the growth chamber. Romaine lettuce can be seen in the foreground, which presently serves at the primary grasshopper food source.

Learning & Experimentation

Much has been learned over the last few months. Initially LED "daylight" light bars were being utilized for 14 hours per day in each grow chamber. A ceramic heat emitter (no light source) was being used to provide heat for the grasshoppers 24 hours per day. The first group that was hatched in captivity was undersized and the color of the grasshoppers was very pale, almost translucent white. 

Recently, the ceramic heat emitters were replaced with incandescent bulbs (75 to 100 Watt) to provide heat and UVA basking. These are left on 24 hours per day currently. In addition, a UVB bulb has been added to each growth chamber. These are programmed to remain on for about 14 hours per day, mimicking natural daylight hours.

This change immediately resulted in larger and more naturally colored grasshopper.

Differential Grasshopper laying egg pods.

There are still several American Grasshoppers (Schistocerca americana) still alive from when they were caught in the wild in the late summer months. They have been living in captivity for nearly 6 months. They have laid egg pods, but to date, none have successfully hatched. 

American Grasshopper attempting to lay eggs in sand tray inside growth chamber.

 One grasshopper has been repeatedly drilling egg pod holes in the sand trays located inside the growing chamber.

American Grasshopper loitering around inside the growth chamber.

What's next?

Several batches of egg pods are in the incubation queue. Many will be hatching in the coming weeks. This is where exponential population growth should occur.

In addition, more will be wild caught during the next few months as well. 

Thoptera

It's official.... Thoptera now has a website. www.thoptera.com Thanks to my business partner for setting that up and also for the cool new email address: john@grasshopper.farm How cool is that?!?!

Still been feeding grasshoppers everyday and hatching some new ones. Things should explode exponentially in the coming months. Still much experimentation, with more to come in the months ahead. The initial batch that was hatched in December is now beginning to breed and lay eggs. Here are a few photos of those.

I believe they are Melanoplus differentialis (Differential grasshoppers). I think I have a few Schistocerca americana as well in captivity. Some of the nymphs may be of that type as well. As they grow, it will be easier for a non-entomologist (like me) to identify them. 

I have noticed that these have not gotten as large as their parents, who were caught wild in the Fall (2019). I suspect that the diet and lighting may be the culprits. I will need to tinker more with lighting to see if that helps. I hope to have a greenhouse type structure, at least a building is many windows on the South side of the structure, to give them plenty of natural light year round. Light in the wintertime will need to be supplumented.

There is a major locust outbreak in Africa going on currently. 

Thoptera Grasshopper Operation Ramping Up

Progress with the Thoptera grasshopper growing operation is ramping up. I posted in the fall about my interest in starting an alternative protein business focused on mass rearing of grasshoppers here in the U.S. In my research, I have yet to find a company in America that is involved in commercial grasshopper production. If you know one, please post in the comments. My aim is to continue working to optimize year round production of grasshoppers for human consumption and for agricultural feed purposes (poultry and aquaculture). Earlier posts contained pictures of grasshoppers that had been captured in the wild and then caged to breed. After some research and lots of trial and error to getting them to hatch I successfully hatched out a few dozen in December (obviously not within the normal seasonal hatching in North America). If all goes well, the next generation with yield several hundred, and the generation after that will be in the thousands by summer. This would allow for direct to consumer sales initially with a more commercial type operation to follow. I am sure there will be several more things to learn over the next few months, especially as the quantity increases. The goal is to have a commercial, year-round production system in place by next fall that can be scaled for growth as demand increases.
Check out this video of one group of itty-bitty grasshoppers emerging from their eggs in my "desktop hatcher."

Here is a photo of the same grasshoppers a few weeks later in the growth chamber.

The following photo shows the grasshoppers that were caught in the wild about 6 months ago.