Red Grasshopper Mites
The next time you’re in a field, stop and take a close look at a few of the grasshoppers you find there. Chances are great that you will see tiny, red mites on some of them. These Red Grasshopper Mites, close relatives of ticks and spiders, go through three stages: larva, nymph and adult. The larvae (6-legged) attach to the base of a grasshopper’s wings, where they suck the grasshopper’s blood. The nymphs and adults (both 8-legged) are free-living and feed on grasshopper eggs. Each Red Grasshopper Mite nymph requires more than two grasshopper eggs to become an adult. An adult male Red Grasshopper Mite requires three grasshopper eggs for reproducing, and each female, seven to eight eggs. After breeding, a female mite deposits up to 4,000 eggs. Entomologists believe that mites reduce grasshopper survival and reproduction dramatically.
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