Its typical breeding habitat is grassy plains and rough, tussocky grassland with shrubs and scattered trees at elevations up to about 1,500 metres (4,900 ft).

These hatch 4 to 8 weeks later, depending on locality, and the nymphs pass through about seven developmental stages over a period of several months, before becoming immature adults.

The immature adults of non-swarming populations congregate on a few adjacent maize plants, flying briefly to another location if disturbed.

[3] When swarming, the insects spent the cool period from November to March in forested areas in the Western Ghats.

In May, when the monsoon winds had started to blow, they moved northeastwards into Gujarat, Indore, Nagpur, Hyderabad and the Eastern Ghats, by then covering an area of 500,000 square kilometres (190,000 sq mi).

The eggs hatched a few weeks later, and as the hoppers grew and developed into winged adults, they fed on grasses or moved into ripening millet crops.

Northeasterly winds blowing in October and November transported the immature adults back to the Western Ghats, mostly feeding by day and moving at night.