Dusty Gray Hopper in the Woodpile
July 19, 2009
I found this odd looking grasshopper while stacking firewood at the edge of my yard. It was just sitting there on a tarp. Originally I picked it up to look at it more closely because I couldn’t see its eyes. There are plenty of grasshoppers of all sizes in my yard and garden including little leafhoppers eating up the garden. But they all have shiny visible eyes. Not this guy however.
I put it in a jar for a few minutes so I could look more closely but it didn’t help me see any better. It pooped a couple of times in the jar as big as mouse poo.
Then I took it outside and let it out of the jar and took photos thinking I would find it online and could use the picture for verification. But I didn’t find it.
This dusty looking hopper was about two inches long and it didn’t fly away so I don’t think it had wings. The legs had dark stripes most prominent on the inside of the hind legs. The dusty look was a lavender and brownish gray.
Flidhais
Ellensburg, WA USA

Carolina Grasshopper

Dear Flidhais,
We believe this most resembles a Toad Lubber Grasshopper in the genus Phrynotettix, but we are not happy with that identification.  It looks a bit like the Robust Toad Lubber, Phrynotettix robustus, but we are not certain how far north that species ranges since the only examples on BugGuide are from Texas.  We hope one of our readers will be able to provide an accurate identification and additional information since BugGuide only has limited information on the genus, and we really aren’t convinced that is relevant anyways.

Correction from Eric Eaton
Hi, Daniel:
The grasshopper from Ellensburg, Washington is simply a late instar nymph of the familiar and common “Carolina grasshopper,” Dissosteira carolina.  The deep single notch in the “crest” of the pronotum (top part of thorax) identifies it immediately.  Another molt or two and it will be an adult.
I have not made time to research the other longhorns from overseas, sorry.  Should get to it sometime this week….
Eric

Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the help. I wonder if this little guy came attached to a chunk of firewood as I
buy it from a tree trimmer in town who goes all over doing tree maintenance.
I have never seen anything like this hopper and I’ve lived here 26 years now.
I looked for more photos of the Carolina one but didn’t find anything like this, however that
may be because of the “moultings” the other poster mentions. I know virtually nothing of
grasshopper life cycles etc…lol I just thought it was a neat bug that sort of looked like
it had on armor, and the dusty looking eyes were so different. It was also larger than the
largest regular grasshoppers here.
Thanks again. Love your site!
Mary Anne O’Sullivan

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South-African Grasshopper
June 10, 2009
I saw many of these grasshoppers in this part of South-Africa. I really wonder what type it is and why this species if flourishing?
David
Tsjisjikamma National Park, Plettenburg Bay, South-Africa

Mating Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers

Dear David,
These are mating Gaudy Grasshoppers, or Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers, or Bush Locusts in the family Pyrgomorphidae.  We believe your species is Phymateus leprosus.  One of the reasons this species is flourishing is that it is poisonous, and not many predators will touch it.

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Newly hatched Horse Lubber Grasshopper?
Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Hello, we just started receiving our july monsoon rains near the Mexican/NM/AZ border and saw these little brown grasshoppers near my door. Are they immature Horse Lubber Grasshoppers that will turn black and yellow later on? Mom took this photo. Thank you!
Sarah, 10
SE AZ border

Horse Lubber Nymphs

Dear Sarah,
We concur with your identification despite BugGuide not having any images of immature Horse Lubber Grasshoppers, Taeniopoda eques. We did find a humorous quote from Eric Eaton on the All Experts Entomology page . The person who submitted the question did not provide a location for the sighting and Eric’s response was: “You don’t give me much to go on here. You don’t even state where on the planet you found this insect…..
If it was somewhere in the southeast United States, then you are most likely describing the nymph of a eastern lubber grasshopper, Romalea microptera. If in the southWEST U.S., then the nymph of a “horse lubber,” Taeniopoda eques. No, they are generally not abundant enough to do significant damage to plants. The bright colors indicate they might be poisonous to eat, but otherwise these grasshoppers are nothing more than a curiosity. “

Thank you very much. I went out two hours later the grasshoppers had turned black (they were 1cm, I collected one in a baggie and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes)! Last year I started a grasshopper survey and the Horse Lubber and Plains Lubber were the biggest grasshoppers I found.
Thank you very much for answering my question,
Sarah

lousiana grasshopper
Sun, Apr 5, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Dear Bugman,
I worked at a volunteer camp in St. Bernard, Louisiana for a couple of years and these huge grasshoppers were always a source of wonder! When they are little, they’re half and inch long and slowly roamed around in packs of 20+.
A few weeks later, they were about four inches long and traveled solo. They are so large that they can’t even really jump! When they tried, they often landed on their sides.
In the pics, the big guy looks like he is all black, but I am pretty sure he had the red and yellow marks like the little ones do.
They really creeped out all of the out-of-town recovery volunteeers. The locals called them Devil Horses. Any idea about these grasshoppers?
Sarah
St. Bernard, LA

Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

Hi Sarah,
What a delightful written account of your encounters with the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, Romalea microptera.  This large species is distasteful to predators, which is why it has such slow lazy movements, there is no need for it to try to escape.  According to BugGuide:  “Common name lubber means “a clumsy or lazy person” (from Middle English lobre meaning lazy, or lout, related to lob ). The use for this grasshopper likely refers to their slow movements–with ample chemical defenses, this grasshopper does not need to move quickly. “  The species has variable coloration, with one morph appearing as a bright yellow-orange form.

Eastern Lubber Grasshopper Nymphs

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