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Daily Bucket: Florida's Lubber Grasshopper [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-06-27
The Daily Bucket is a regular series from the Backyard Science group. Here we talk about Mother Nature in all her glory, especially the parts that live nearby. So let us know (as close as you are comfortable) where you are and what's going on around you. What's the weather like? Seen any interesting plants, bugs or critters? Are there birds at your feeders? Deer, foxes or snakies in your yard? Seen any cool rocks or geological features? Post your observations and notes here. And photos. We like photos. :)
At a length of over three inches, the Lubber Grasshopper is likely to be the biggest grasshopper you ever see. And they are extraordinarily bold, walking around in plain sight in open areas like lawns or sidewalks.
They have every reason to be confident—their bright red, green and yellow colors are a warning, for Lubbers contain toxins in their bodies that are strong enough to kill a small bird. When larger birds or mammals eat a Lubber, they get violently sick, throw up, and learn to never touch another one.
Lubbers are completely harmless to humans, but their toxins make them virtually invulnerable to predators. Only the Loggerhead Shrike preys on them regularly—it kills the grasshopper by biting off its head, then impales the headless corpse on a tree thorn to let the sun bake out all the toxins. The leading cause of death for Lubbers seems to be getting run over by cars and getting stepped on by humans.
There are three species of Lubbers in the US. The Florida population used to be considered a separate species, but it is now classed as part of the species Romalea guttata, which ranges from North Carolina to Texas. There is quite a bit of variation in the colors, with some being lighter and others being darker.
The Lubber’s lifestyle is typical for most grasshoppers. The adults mate in late summer or autumn and the female lays a batch of 25 or so eggs in sandy soil, where they overwinter and hatch in early spring. The nymphs are black with bold yellow stripes. They feed on virtually any sort of vegetation, and store toxins in their body which they extract from some of the plants. They will molt five times as they grow, finally emerging as adults.
Some Lubbers I have encountered over the years:
Nymph:
Adults:
And now it is your turn: what’s hopping around in your neck of the woods?
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