Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / Grasshoppers and crickets
Sticker of Cornfield grasshopper
Bug card No. 1204 of 4,939

Cornfield grasshopper

Sphenarium purpurascens
Eats: PlantsGrasshoppers and cricketsGardens and meadows6 legs

The cornfield grasshopper lives in the corn fields of Mexico and Guatemala. In Mexico it has a famous second job: people collect it and eat it as a crunchy snack. Its Spanish name, chapulín de milpa, means cornfield grasshopper.

Lives in
Mexico and Guatemala, in corn fields
Top speed
about 8 km/h (5 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot sting.
What does it eat?
It eats plants. When there are very many of them, they can harm the farmers' crops.
For real!Photo of Cornfield grasshopper
Picture by Viridiana Lizardo. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

In Mexico, people pick these grasshoppers and eat them.

2

Collecting them to eat helps farmers keep the grasshoppers from eating too much of their crops.

3

Catching them means farmers need less bug spray, and they can earn money by selling them.

you asked

Most asked questions about Cornfield grasshopper

?Do people really eat cornfield grasshoppers?

Yes. In Mexico they are collected and eaten as food.

?Where does the cornfield grasshopper live?

In Mexico and Guatemala, in and around corn fields.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Sphenarium purpurascens
Group
Grasshoppers and crickets
Family
Pyrgomorphidae
Classification
Insecta > Orthoptera > Pyrgomorphidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Chapulín de milpa

Where the facts come from

  1. Sphenarium purpurascens (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Viridiana Lizardo. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Grasshoppers and crickets

Desert locustGrasshoppers and cricketsHouse cricketGrasshoppers and cricketsParktown prawnGrasshoppers and cricketsEastern lubber grasshopperGrasshoppers and cricketsAustralian plague locustGrasshoppers and cricketsMormon cricketGrasshoppers and crickets

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

Hackberry blister gall psyllidTrue bugs and cicadasMint-loving pyrausta mothMothsMorning glory turret beeBees and bumblebeesMagnolia threetoothSnails, slugs and wormsSlender striped robberflyFlies and mosquitoesLesser pearlMoths
Honey jarfor grown-ups