Most grasshoppers are plant feeders and all have chewing (mandiblate ) mouth parts.some grasshoppers are serious pests of cultivated plants. Grasshoppers are insects that belong to the order Orthoptera, which also contains crickets and katydids. Grasshoppers have 6 legs, 2 antennae, a head, an abdomen and a thorax. They may be winged or wingless. The winged form usually has 4 wings.

There are five species of grasshoppers in the Hawaiian Islands. Their habitat is generally lowland uncultivated areas. .All are alien. The species here usually do not cause many problems, because of their low populations. One species, however, Schitocerca nitens the vagrant grasshopper may cause problems in fragile native ecosystems where they eat native plants like ilima (Sida fallax) and bunchgrass. Grasshoppers are preyed upon by others insects,fish (when they fall in the water) and birds incuding the Moorhen ('alae'ula). Grasshoppers have been observed in the Hamakua marsh, but the species have not yet been identified.