The clear-winged grasshopper usually inhabits meadows at over 2,000 feet in elevation. There is usually one generation a year. After mating in late summer, the females lay eggs in the ground in masses with a gummy coating that hardens and binds them together. The coating protects the eggs from cold during the winter.
Eggs hatch in May and June. Nymphs develop through five or six instars, during which they shed their skins, and mature in summer or fall, about 40 days after hatching.
Most grasshoppers live in their birth area throughout the year and are non-migratory. The Clear Winged grasshopper can make rapid flights of about 4 to 10 meters but stays in its territory.
They often breed in dry grass and brush surrounding orchards and along ditch banks. Then move into orchards in late summer. Grasshoppers are voracious eaters and have powerful jaws and sharp mandibles for chewing up all kinds of plant life. They particularly like grasses and flowering plants.
Only the adults fly.