Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

The eastern lubber grasshopper is a large, conspicuous grasshopper native to the southeastern United States, ranging from North Carolina south through Florida and west into Texas. It is one of the biggest grasshoppers found in North America, and its size alone makes it one of the more frequently noticed insects in gardens, fields, and roadsides across its range.

Adults display striking coloration that varies somewhat by region and individual, typically featuring a black body marked with yellow, orange, or red stripes and spots, though some populations, especially in Florida, are largely yellow with black markings. This bright, contrasting pattern is thought to serve as a warning to predators, reinforced by the grasshopper's slow, ground-bound behavior and its short, non-functional wings that leave it essentially flightless.

Eastern lubbers are best known for their unhurried, deliberate movement and their tendency to appear in large numbers of nymphs during early summer, sometimes gathering conspicuously on plants and pavement before dispersing as they mature. Their combination of size, color, and slow pace makes them one of the most recognizable grasshoppers in the southeastern landscape.

• Very large, heavy body, among the biggest grasshoppers in North America.
• Coloration typically black with yellow, orange, or red markings, though some populations are mostly yellow.
• Short, stub-like wings that do not permit flight.
• Young nymphs are often solid black with a yellow or orange stripe down the back.
• Thick, robust legs used mainly for slow walking and short hops rather than powerful jumping.
• Distinguished from other large grasshoppers by its combination of size, flightlessness, and bold warning coloration.

This species is found throughout the southeastern United States, from the Carolinas south through Florida and west to Texas, occupying grasslands, open woodlands, roadsides, gardens, and disturbed areas. It is especially conspicuous in Florida, where it is a familiar sight in yards and along roads during the warmer months.

Eastern lubbers feed on a wide range of plants, including grasses, forbs, and many ornamental and garden species, sometimes causing noticeable defoliation when populations are locally dense. Being flightless, they rely on slow walking and short hops to move between feeding sites, and on their bright coloration, along with hissing and a foul-smelling foamy secretion released when disturbed, to deter predators. Their conspicuous, unhurried behavior contrasts with the more evasive habits of smaller, flighted grasshoppers, reflecting their reliance on chemical and visual defenses rather than escape.

Females lay egg pods in the soil in late summer through fall, and the eggs overwinter, hatching the following spring, often in synchronized mass emergences. Nymphs are typically black with a bright stripe and develop through several instars over the spring and early summer via incomplete metamorphosis, gradually taking on adult coloration. Adults appear by mid to late summer, and there is one generation per year.