Grasshoppers, like all other organisms, are composed of a combination of elements, but little is known about the extent to which the elemental composition in grasshoppers changes over the course of nymphal development. In this study the grasshopper Schistocerca americana was reared on a diet of seedling wheat and wheat germ; nymphs of various mass were collected and analyzed for elemental composition. In total, 12 different elements, including the macroelements carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, were quantified. Results show that the amount of a given element increased linearly with increasing body mass, but that the rate of increase differed depending on the element. Results also show that the concentration of some elements dropped dramatically over the course of development. We discuss our results in the context of limiting nutrients and ecological stoichiometry.