Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: Catching a Grasshopper in Its Habitat
• Method 2 of 2: Setting up a grasshopper trap

Catching a grasshopper is pretty easy if you do it the right way. To catch it in its natural habitat, you need to find an area with tall grass and take into account the fact that grasshoppers are slower in the morning and at sunset, so it is better to search for an insect during these hours. Also, for a grasshopper, you can equip quite effective traps based on molasses or fluffy blankets.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Catching a Grasshopper in Its Habitat

1. 1 Begin your search at the most appropriate hours for this. To catch a grasshopper, hunt for these insects in the morning or at sunset, when the temperature is cooler and the grasshoppers are slower than in the afternoon heat. Since grasshoppers are able to jump incredible distances in length (up to one meter) and in height (up to 25 cm), this advantage will not be superfluous. Remember that grasshoppers have the ability to fly, which they use in case of fright, so it is best to catch insects during a time of the day when they are slow.
2. 2 Find the grasshoppers. Grasshoppers are found almost all over the world, with the exception of extremely cold areas such as the North and South Poles. Grasshoppers usually live in meadows, fields and other places where they can find food. Pay attention to the holes in the leaves of the plants for the suspected feeding sites of the grasshoppers.You can also be guided by the chirping of grasshoppers, which they emit by rubbing their hind legs against their wings.
3. 3 Catch the grasshopper in a container prepared for it. Use a fine mesh net, a container with a lid and ventilation holes, or an old shirt or sheet to catch the grasshopper where you found it. Catching grasshoppers is not difficult. Just stamp your foot or rustle the grass to scare the grasshoppers away and make them jump (or eject from the ground). As soon as the grasshoppers begin to move, substitute a net, container or other trap so that you can catch one of the insects.
   • When the grasshoppers are frightened, they spit up brown liquid for protection. This liquid is harmless, but it can stain your clothes.
4. 4 Make the container attractive to the grasshopper. If you're trying to trap an insect directly in a container, fill it with bits of grasshopper-friendly food. Place an apple wedge, bread crumbs, carrot pieces, or lettuce. It is best to use foods that start to deteriorate and that you yourself will no longer eat.

Method 2 of 2: Setting up a grasshopper trap

1. 1 Set up a molasses trap. To catch a grasshopper, try setting up a bucket or small container with a 1 to 10 molasses solution in water. To catch many grasshoppers, fill a small garden pond or shallow children's pool with the same solution. Discard this method if you want to catch live grasshoppers. The insects will most likely drown if they are not caught out of the solution right away.
2. 2 Make a glass trap and a container of soapy water. Another way to catch grasshoppers on a large scale is to create traps out of glass and containers of soapy water and set them up in the field. Place the glass vertically, and place a container of soapy water close to it. When the grasshopper jumps onto the glass, it will fall down into the soapy water and drown as the soap reduces the surface tension of the water, thereby preventing the insect from staying on the surface.
3. 3 Set up a fluffy blanket trap. To catch live grasshoppers to watch or keep as pets, spread a fluffy blanket in a field or other grasshopper habitat. To attract the grasshoppers to the bedspread, sprinkle sweetened water over it and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Leave the blanket overnight. Grasshoppers that jump on top of it will get entangled in the fluffy fibers with their legs strong enough to be easily collected and transplanted into a container.
   • To speed up the catching process, disturb the grass around the blanket, thereby forcing the grasshoppers to jump on it.
4. 4 Make a plastic bottle trap. Cut off the top of a regular plastic bottle and insert into the bottom with the neck down. Tape these pieces together with tape and put some grass inside the trap, then set it in a suitable place. Grasshoppers can easily get into the bottle through the funnel-shaped top, but they will not be able to get out from the inside out.
5. 5 Create a yellow trap. Grasshoppers are attracted to yellow, so try creating a yellow trap to catch them. Insects see the ultraviolet spectrum of light, and lighter colors reflect more ultraviolet light, making them more attractive to insects. Create a molasses trap in a yellow bucket, or use a yellow fluffy blanket (or a blanket with yellow objects spread over it) as a trap to trap a grasshopper.