USA TODAY International Edition
Vegas’ unwanted tourists: Swarms of grasshoppers
LAS VEGAS – Swarms of grasshoppers are invading southern Nevada. But don’t worry: Scientists promise the flying creatures are no sign of the apocalypse.
An unsettling number of pallid-winged grasshoppers have been spotted all over bright lights, streets and sidewalks throughout the Las Vegas valley. They’re in the middle of a northern migration, said Jeff Knight, an entomologist with the Nevada De-
partment of Agriculture.
“When we have wet winter or spring, these things build up,” Knight said at a news conference last week in Las Vegas. “They’ll move northward, and they’ll often move as far north as central Nevada.”
But people shouldn’t worry: The insects are not dangerous.
“They don’t carry any diseases, they don’t bite, they’re not even one of the species that we consider a problem,” he said. “They probably won’t cause much damage in a yard.”
The grasshoppers are attracted to ultraviolet light. That’s why the insects often are found swarming glowing bulbs of white light. So if people want to do something about the bugs, they can switch out the lighting around their homes with amber-colored lights. The grasshoppers won’t land for amber light.
The invasion should last only a couple of weeks at the most, Knight says.
“They’re moving through,” he says. “They come in, settle in, and then at night they take off and fly, and they can fly fair distances.”
The state has records as far back as the early 1960s of Nevada grasshopper invasions. In three decades as an
“Don’t worry about it. They’re not going to bite you, they’re not going to sting you. Pull over, open the windows, let it out.” Jeff Knight Entomologist with the Nevada Department of Agriculture
entomologist, Knight has seen the insects visit southern Nevada four or five times.
The state could take steps to control the population, but it’s not worth it, Knight says.
“You may be able to do something about the ones that are there, but they’re just going to be back in tomorrow night,” he says. Grasshoppers still must navigate predators in nature: Birds, coyotes and other insects like to feast on the jumpy bugs.
And what if a grasshopper flies inside your car? Stay calm, don’t panic, and remember: The bugs are harmless, Knight says.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “They’re not going to bite you, they’re not going to sting you. Pull over, open the windows, let it out.”