By Carrie White
A grasshopper stare-down at 65 m.p.h. is hardly what I expected on a recent trip to Tucson.
But there you have it, swerving down the switchbacks toward the Old Pueblo with a hopper on the dashboard, eyes square with mine. Pondering when to leap.
Happily, I made it down the hill unscathed. And so did the grasshopper. Who can blame him for hitching a ride to get away from an overpopulation of kin. Hey, we all know what Christmas is like.
As you are surely aware, grasshoppers right now are everywhere. Inside cars (don’t leave your doors open when bringing in the groceries.) Gardens, for sure. And carports. I’ve found carcasses in the garage refrigerator preserved like stone-age mammoths.
Counts vary, but Santa Cruz County has something like 40 different kinds of grasshoppers (Acridadae). While we may look at them as nuisances, food for wildlife, other cultures look at them a part of their diet due to the insects high-protein value:
- Chapulines are popular in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, where grasshoppers they are toasted and seasoned with garlic, lime, salt and chili.
- Nsenene is a favored seasonal delicacy in Uganda with vendors frying grasshoppers with onions and chilies.
- Mettugi are a rural snack/pub food in South Korea which are toasted and seasoned with soy sauce.
While seasons naturally bring all sorts of different plant, animal and insect life out, we know, the grasshopper lifecycle is shortlived. Meaning, they will soon be gone – even if their destruction isn’t.
Grasshoppers will survive in egg form here though the winter, insulated deep within the soil. But at least they won’t be bothering our winter gardens. Or jumping into refrigerators.
Or looking for lifts to Tucson.