Editing Orthoptera (section)

== Relationships with humans ==

===As pests===

Several species of Orthoptera are considered pests of crops and rangelands or seeking warmth in homes by humans. The two groups of Orthoptera that cause the most damage are [[grasshopper]]s and [[locust]]s. Locust are historically known for wiping out fields of crops in a day. Locust have the ability to eat up to their own body weight in a single day.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/locust/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207174802/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/locust/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 7, 2010 |title=Locusts, Locust Pictures, Locust Facts - National Geographic |last=Society |first=National Geographic |website=National Geographic |access-date=2016-04-11}}</ref> Individuals gather in large groups called swarms, these swarms can range up to 80 million individuals that stretch 460 square miles.<ref name=":0" /> Grasshoppers can cause major agricultural damage but not to the documented extent as locust historically have. These insects mainly feed on weeds and grasses, however, during times of drought and high population density they will feed on crops. They are a known pest in [[soybean]] fields and will likely feed on these crops once preferred food sources have become scarce.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/fieldcropsipm/insects/soybean-grasshopper.php |title=Grasshoppers {{!}} Pests {{!}} Soybean {{!}} Integrated Pest Management {{!}} IPM Field Crops {{!}} Purdue University |last=Krupke |first=Christian  |website=extension.entm.purdue.edu |access-date=2016-04-11}}</ref>

===As food===
{{See also|Insects as food}}
Most orthopterans are edible, making up 13% of all insects including some 80 species of grasshoppers being regularly consumed worldwide.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=van Huis |first=Arnold |url=https://www.fao.org/3/i3253e/i3253e.pdf |title=Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security |isbn=9789251075968 |location=Rome |oclc=868923724 |author-link=Arnold van Huis |pages=13–14}}</ref> In [[Madagascar]] and [[Oaxaca]], grasshoppers and locusts are usually collected early in the morning when it is cooler as the orthopterans are less mobile due to being [[Ectotherm|cold-blooded]].<ref name=":1" /> In Thailand, [[House cricket|house crickets]] are commonly reared and eaten; as of 2012, around 20,000 cricket farmers had farms in 53 of their [[Provinces of Thailand|76 provinces]].<ref name=":1" />

In the second century BCE in [[Ancient Greece]], [[Diodorus Siculus]] is known to have called people from [[Ethiopia]] ''Acridophagi'', meaning "eaters of locusts."<ref name=":1" />

In [[Judaism]], the Orthoptera include the only insects considered [[kosher]]. The list of dietary laws in the [[book of Leviticus]] forbids all flying insects that walk, but makes an exception for [[Kosher locust|certain locusts]].<ref name="Gordon">{{citation |title=The eat-a-bug cookbook |pages=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sI0Zax6ljq8C&pg=PA3 |first=David George |last=Gordon |publisher=Ten Speed Press |year= 1998 |isbn=978-0-89815-977-6}}</ref> The [[Torah]] states the only kosher flying insects with four walking legs have knees that extend above their feet so that they hop.<ref>{{citation |url= http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?action=displayanchor&pentid=P3008 |title=Navigating the Bible: Leviticus }}</ref><!-- Thus nonjumping Orthoptera such as [[mole crickets]] are certainly not kosher.-->

===As creators of biofuel===

With new research showing promise in locating alternative [[biofuel]] sources in the gut of insects, grasshoppers are one species of interest. The insect's ability to break down [[cellulose]] and [[lignin]] without producing [[greenhouse gases]] has aroused scientific interest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shi |first1=Weibing |last2=Xie |first2=Shangxian |last3=Chen |first3=Xueyan |last4=Sun |first4=Su |last5=Zhou |first5=Xin |last6=Liu |first6=Lantao |last7=Gao |first7=Peng |last8=Kyrpides |first8=Nikos C. |last9=No |first9=En-Gyu |date=January 2013 |title=Comparative Genomic Analysis of the Endosymbionts of Herbivorous Insects Reveals Eco-Environmental Adaptations: Biotechnology Applications |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=e1003131 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003131 |pmc=3542064 |pmid=23326236 |doi-access=free }}</ref>