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A study was conducted to evaluate the influence of weather (precipitation and temperature) and plant communities on grasshopper density over a 14-year period (1996–2009) in Benito Juárez County, Southern Pampas, Argentina. Total density strongly varied among plant communities. Highest values were registered in 2001 and 2003 in highly disturbed pastures and in 2002 and 2009 in halophilous grasslands. Native grasslands had the lowest density values. Seasonal precipitation and temperature had no significant effect on total grasshopper density.  Dichroplus elongatus  (Giglio-Tos) (Orthoptera: Acridoidea),  Covasacris pallidinota  (Bruner),  Dichroplus pratensis  Bruner,  Scotussa lemniscata  Stål,  Borellia bruneri  (Rehn) and  Dichroplus maculipennis  (Blanchard) comprised, on average, 64% of the grasshopper assemblages during low density years and 79% during high density years.  Dichroplus elongatus, S. lemniscata  and  C. pallidinota  were the most abundant species in 2001, 2002 and 2003, while  D. elongatus, B. brunneri  and  C.   pallidinota  in 2009.  Dichroplus elongatus  and  D. pratensis , mixed feeders species, were positively affected by summer rainfall. This suggests that the increase in summer precipitation had a positive effect on the quantity and quality forage production, affecting these grasshopper populations.  Scotussa lemniscata  and  C. pallidinota  were negatively affected by winter and fall temperature, possibly affecting the embryonic development before diapause and hatching.  Dichroplus elongatus  and  D. pratensis  were associated with highly disturbed pastures,  S. lemniscata  with pastures and  B. bruneri  and  D. maculipennis  with halophilous grasslands.  Covasacris pallidinota  was closely associated with halophilous grasslands and moderately disturbed pastures. Weather conditions changed over the years, with 2001, 2002 and 2003 having excessive rainfall while 2008 and 2009 were the driest years since the study started. We suggest that although seasonal precipitation and temperature had no significant effect on total grasshopper density, these weather variables and plant communities had differential influence on the dominant grasshopper species.

Influence of Weather Variables and Plant Communities on Grasshopper Density in the Southern Pampas, Argentina