Wildlife · Animal myth busters
What is the difference between a grasshopper and a cricket?
Short antennae and daytime hops for grasshoppers; long antennae and night songs for crickets — both orthopterans, different suborders.
In brief
Grasshoppers are mostly day-active with short antennae and often bright warning colours. Crickets have long antennae, are usually nocturnal and sing by rubbing wings together. Both are orthopteran insects — but antenna length, activity time and song method differ.
By the WARN Research & Conservation TeamChecked against IUCN Red List & CITES sourcesLast updated
Grasshoppers (suborder Caelifera) and crickets including katydids (Ensifera) are orthopteran insects — hind-leg jumpers with chewing mouthparts. Grasshoppers mostly day-active with antennae shorter than body. Crickets usually nocturnal with antennae often longer than body. Stridulation differs: grasshoppers rub legs on wings; crickets rub wing on wing. Locust swarms are grasshoppers under density-triggered phase change — not crickets.
2
Orthopteran suborders — Caelifera and Ensifera
Billions
Locust swarm individuals in historic plagues
Long
Cricket antennae often exceed body length
Short
Grasshopper antennae — key ID rule
Quick facts
| Grasshopper antennae | Short — fewer than body length typically |
|---|---|
| Cricket antennae | Long — often thread-like, exceed body |
| Activity | Grasshoppers mostly day; crickets mostly night |
| Sound | Grasshopper: leg stridulation; cricket: wing stridulation |
| Locust | Phase-change grasshopper — swarming pest |
| Diet | Mostly herbivorous; some crickets omnivorous |
Key takeaways
- Antenna length — short grasshopper, long cricket.
- Suborders Caelifera vs Ensifera.
- Locusts are swarming grasshoppers — not crickets.
- Day grasshoppers; night singing crickets.
- Different stridulation mechanics.
- See myth-busters hub for more corrections.
Antenna length — fastest rule
Caelifera short-horned orthoptera versus Ensifera long-horned — textbook distinction holds for most temperate species. Bush crickets (katydids) enormous antennae — unmistakable. Mormon crickets are shield-backed katydids despite name — exception proving rule. Photograph profile for classroom submissions.
Sound and communication
Male crickets chirp species-specific songs — temperature correlates with chirp rate in some species (Dolbear’s law folklore). Grasshoppers crepitate or stridulate less audibly to humans — day mating displays visual and tactile. Both deafened by parasitic flies in some regions — behaviour adapts.
Ecological and agricultural role
Locust swarms — desert locust phase polyphenism — devastate crops across Africa and Asia; FAO monitors transboundary outbreaks. Crickets farmed for protein feed — insect agriculture rising. Pesticide overspray kills non-target orthopterans — owl and skink food web loss.
Myth correction
Not all jumping insects in grass are grasshoppers — long feelers indicate cricket or katydid. Not all “crickets” chirp — mole crickets burrow. Myth-buster hub hosts this answer alongside bat blindness and whale sleep corrections.