Predators

Grasshoppers have a variety of predators. Like all predators, they limit the population of a species - in this case, the grasshopper. The predators include birds, rodents, spiders, skunks, several species of flies, and horsehair worms. Horsehair worms are long, whitish, and live inside of the grasshopper. In female grasshoppers, they cause sterility while they feed. Grasshoppers are killed by them when they force their way through the body wall when the horsehair worms complete their growth. These parasites are ingested when they eat leaves where female horsehair worms have laid their eggs.