This is sometimes known as summit disease because infected insects climb to the upper part of a plant and grip the tip of the stem as they die; this ensures widespread dispersal of the fungal spores.

In some members of the species complex, they develop hyphae with cell walls and grow through the cuticle, producing conidiophores and infective conidia.

A portion of them germinate in the spring, producing other spores that are forcibly ejected from the soil, landing on low vegetation where they come into contact with grasshoppers.

At an advanced stage of the disease, an infected individual climbs to the top of a plant and dies with its limbs gripping the stem and its head pointing upwards.

[1][5] Epizootic outbreaks of disease in grasshopper populations in North America have been attributed to E. grylli but are usually localised and sporadic rather than widespread.

From 1986 to 1992 an integrated pest management program was initiated by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to attempt to control grasshopper numbers without the use of vast quantities of insecticide.