Recently, I went for a troll along the UF/IFAS, St Lucie County Extension Nature Walk, when I came across some beautiful Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Romalea microptera) nymph. The nymphs have a red variation, showing a blood-red coloration with a crimson-red stripe along the back. I was very excited to see them. I ran for my camera, but they disappeared upon my return. Don’t get fooled by their showy colors. They are very common in our area and destructive to numerous landscape plants.
Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are slow-moving; they hop and may be unable to fly. They produce clusters of 30-50 eggs, hatching in the spring, which can lead to large groups of nymphs typically emerging from under the soil surface simultaneously. A female lubber grasshopper can produce 3-5 egg clusters yearly and prefers laying eggs in the same spot annually. One new generation hatches each year, and the nymphs/adults can be seen year-round from March or April until about October or November, but infestation peaks between July and August. The nymphs look different from the adults. They are smaller, wingless, and utterly black, with a yellow or orange stripe along the back.
Eastern Lubber Grasshopper adults are distinctive and colorful, mostly showing an orange-brown or yellowish-brown color with black accents. Sometimes, adult coloration can show variations with darker colors, with yellow showing minimally. These large insects can grow up to 3 inches long, depending on gender, walk between plants, and are great climbers that will eat the young foliage at the plant tips. Their chewing feeding habit leaves large irregular holes in the leaf and sometimes even strips the foliage plant completely. Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are aggressive pests. Therefore, they must be checked when first noticed in the landscape. If only a few lubbers are present, physically remove them by hand-picking. When there is a large infestation, use an insecticide labeled for lubber grasshoppers.
It is important to note that adult lubber grasshoppers can be difficult to kill with insecticides, especially foliar sprays. This is due to their large size and ability to detoxify natural toxins from the various plants they eat. Insecticides are more effective on juvenile grasshoppers. Insecticides with active ingredients control lubber grasshoppers effectively: carbaryl, bifenthrin, cyhalothrin, permethrin, fenvalerate, and spinosad. Check the label to see if your pesticide contains these ingredients and follow the label directions for proper use. This publication was compiled by Melanie Reyes and Grantly Ricketts. For more information on lubber grasshopper, contact Grantly Ricketts, UF/IFAS Extension, St Lucie County, at 772-462-1660 or gricketts@ufl.edu.
For more resources, visit the following resources:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN132
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