Lubber Grasshoppers

Lubber grasshoppers (Romalea microptera*) are a common sight in Florida gardens, but their large size and bright coloration still draw plenty of attention. Lubbers are the largest grasshoppers in the United States, growing up to 3 inches as adults. They are native to the Southeastern U.S. as far north as Georgia and the Carolinas and west to Eastern Texas.

Lubbers begin life in late fall as eggs laid in a foamy mass a few inches below the surface of the soil. They spend the winter buried there, emerging in late winter (around mid-March in Central Florida) as “nymphs”. These nymphs are much darker in color and smaller in size than they will be as adults (click here to see a picture). Like other insects, lubber grasshopper nymphs molt (shed their skin) several times as they grow, changing their appearance slightly with each molt. After the fifth molt, the grasshopper reaches its adult form, generally by mid-July.

Adult grasshoppers spend the rest of the summer eating and preparing to mate. As adults, lubber grasshoppers have wings that are less than half the length of their abdomen and so are unable to fly. They also are unable to jump long distances, so their main form of locomotion is a slow, clumsy stroll along the ground.
Their lack of flight and minimal jumping abilities make lubber grasshoppers an easy target for predators. In defense, lubbers have developed several strategies. Like many other brightly-colored insects, lubber grasshoppers taste bad and are in fact toxic to many predators. Birds have been known to die after eating a lubber grasshopper, although some species like shrikes apparently seek out and successfully feed on them.

If the bright warning colors aren’t enough to scare off predators, lubber grasshoppers have the ability to create several forceful secretions. Like other grasshoppers, they can produce “tobacco spit”, a mixture of partially digested plant material mixed with toxins. They can also emit a foamy irritating spray from their thorax along with a fairly startling hissing noise.

Lubber Grasshoppers mating. Note that the male (top) is much smaller than the female.

For their size, lubbers are not as destructive to plants as some other species of grasshoppers. However, in large numbers – such as a hatching of nymphs – they can do a decent amount of damage in the home garden, especially to plants like lilies and amaryllis. Lubbers are easiest to control in the nymph stage, when you can remove them by hand and throw them in a bucket of soapy water. For particularly large infestations, you can resort to pesticides, but remember that in their adult form they are not easy to kill - it takes direct contact with some very nasty chemicals. For more information on controlling infestations of lubber grasshoppers, click here.

*There seems to be some confusion over the scientific name of lubber grasshoppers. Some sources use Romalea microptera, which is considered an older name, while others use Romalea guttata. In any case, these two are the same species.