Lubber Grasshopper Returns to Tampa

Lubber Grasshopper

Romalea microptera (syn. Romalea guttata), known commonly as the eastern lubber grasshopper or just lubber grasshopper, is a grasshopper native to the southeastern and south central portion of the United States. It is the most distinctive grasshopper species within the southeastern United States, and is well known both for its size and its unique coloration.

Romalea microptera goes through several stages, like all insects. When in the nymph stage, it is smaller than in the adult stage, wingless and completely black with one or more yellow, orange or red stripes. In the adult stage, they reach 2.5–3 in (64–76 mm), grow wings half the length of their body and become either a dull yellow often characterized by black spots and markings, a bright orange with black markings, or entirely black (as in the nymph stage) with yellow or red striping.

In the black adult color phase, the grasshopper is widely known by the name “diablo” or “black diablo”. In Louisiana, they are known as the “Devil’s horse” or “cheval-diable”. The insect is also colloquially known as a “graveyard grasshopper”. In Mississippi, they are known as “giant locust”.
Romalea microptera has several defense strategies. The first is its brightly colored warning pattern. Additionally, the insect emits a foul-smelling and foul-tasting foamy secretion from the thorax when it is disturbed. The secretion is dark colored and opaque. It also lets off a loud hissing sound that can scare animals.

Lubbers are known to lay their eggs in the summertime, and those eggs don’t hatch for about 6 to 8 months, according to research by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. So that lands you about March.

Baby lubbers have already been reported on the Space Coast absolutely mutilating the plants they feast upon.

And while they don’t bite, they do spit. “When alarmed, lubbers will spread their wings, hiss and secrete foul-smelling froth from their spiracles. They can expel a fine spray of toxic chemicals for a distance of 15 cm,” the UF research states.

“I can tell you that when the eggs hatch, the nymphs stay together, are very docile and easy to gather — I cut leaves and placed them in a plastic bag — but when they get older, they are loners,” said Sally Scalera, Urban Horticulture Agent & Master Gardener Coordinator for the UF/IFAS extension service in Brevard.