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Grasshoppers plaguing you? Here's why they're swarming the Valley

If you live in the Valley, chances are you’ve seen many tiny grasshoppers swarming over sidewalks, windows, doors and cars. And they seemingly came out of nowhere.

Shaku Nair with Arizona Pest Management Center at University of Arizona says the plague of grasshoppers is thanks to the wet and longer winter.

"They’re very common. They feed on all different kinds of vegetation, weeds, many weed plants, grasses. All of those weeds that come up after a wet winter they feed on," Nair said.

She says they will likely move on — or die off —in a couple weeks, and advises people to just wait it out rather than spraying pesticides.

Jill Ryan joined KJZZ in 2020 as a morning reporter, and she is currently a field correspondent and Morning Edition producer.