Analysis of the genetic and fossil data revealed that the order Orthoptera originated in the Carboniferous period (~350–300 million years ago) and the two suborders diverged in the Permian (~300–250 million years ago).

When did grasshoppers first appear on Earth?

Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is probably the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.

Where did grasshoppers originate from?

They discovered that grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) hail not from Africa, as commonly thought, but from South America, where they arose 59 million years ago. Over tens of millions of years, grasshoppers migrated, likely by flight, to colonize the continents.