[1][2] This grasshopper is frequently used as a model organism in scientific studies, due to their abundance throughout North America and behavioral response to changes in climate.

[2] Melanoplus femurrubrum is a mixed-feeding herbivore, which means they can consume a variety of shrubs, forbs, and grasses to meet nutritional needs.

Consumption of plant macronutrient ratios of protein-carbohydrates fluctuate throughout the year to optimize available resources, and allows M. femurrubrum to compete with similar mix-feeding herbivores.

[11] Melanoplus species eat grasses of all kinds, as well as leafy and grassy agricultural crops and garden plants.

[13] Irradiation during the leptotene-zygotene stages of meiosis (that is, prior to the pachytene period in which crossover recombination occurs) caused an increase in subsequent chiasma frequency.

These results imply that X-irradiation induces DNA damages that are repaired during meiosis by a pathway leading to formation of chiasma.