Abstract
In tests with the differential grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis (Thomas), at Tempe, Arizona, an exclusive diet of alfalfa was inadequate for complete nymphal development. No nymphs survived from the egg to the adult stage on that diet. Only 18% of field-collected second-instar nymphs reached the adult stage, and these averaged much below normal in size. Survival to the adult stage was 82 to 90% on a favorable mixed diet. Increasing the density of a food plant in laboratory cages increased the amount of feeding on that plant in relation to feeding on another food plant present. Weed control in alfalfa fields would probably reduce infestations of the differential grasshopper.

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