Insect Spotlight: Lubber Grasshoppers

Article By: Audrey Durr
Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program Coordinator

Last weekend I spotted this year’s first batch of lubber grasshoppers in my backyard. The young grasshoppers (nymphs) were only about a half-inch long and had not yet taken on their distinct adult coloration. The nymphs are almost entirely black with little yellow stripes, while the more ornate adults may be dull yellow or orange with black markings.

There is only one generation of lubber grasshoppers per year. During the summer, adult female lubbers lay one to three egg masses with up to 50 eggs per egg mass in the soil. The eggs remain in the soil during the fall and winter, and then begin hatching in March. The nymphs grow through stages of molting to become adults. Adult populations are most noticeable in July and August; you may have observed large concentrations on roads (particularly State Road 48) last summer.

The bright coloration of lubber grasshoppers serves as a warning to birds and other animals that the lubber grasshopper contains toxic substances. When threatened, a lubber may shoot an irritating spray from its thorax and make a loud, hissing noise to scare off predators. The dark brown spray can stain clothing.

The lubber grasshopper cannot fly and can only jump short distances. Because of their slow, clumsy movement, they are best controlled with hand removal, being careful of their potentially irritating spray.

Despite their relatively large size, lubber grasshoppers usually eat less and cause less damage than their smaller relatives. Additionally, lubber grasshoppers rarely occur in large enough concentrations to cause significant landscape damage, so control may be unnecessary.

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