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

red striped bug
Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 5:58 PM
I walked out to the driveway and there were a hundred of these bugs on the driveway and in the dirt adjacent, and crawling up weeds in the area. The sort of jump like crickets. It was 80 degrees, 5pm, in Orlando FL. Is this a common bug to Florida?
Ms. New to Florida
Orlando

Eastern Lubber Grasshopper nymph

Dear Ms. New to Florida,
This is a newly hatched Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, Romalea microptera. BugGuide lists it as ranging in the Gulf States as well as Georgia and South Carolina. It is quite common in Florida. There is both a light and dark adult form. Adults do not fly. Nymphs are often black with a red or yellow stripe as your photo illustrates. Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers can be quite plentiful at times.

Huge unknown Namibian grasshopper
Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Hi, i came across this huge grasshopper (locust?) in the Zaris Mountains in Namibia. It must have been close to 10cm long, the biggest hopper i have ever seen! Can you help me identify the species? Can it be some kind of desert locust?
Geir Drange
Namibia

Unknown Grasshopper from Namibia

Hi Geir,
We are going to post your image before we begin trying to identify your large Namibian Grasshopper. It appears to be a flightless species unless it is a nymph that is still growing.

Comment from Eric Eaton
Monday, January 26, 2009
I have no idea what kind of grasshopper that is from Namibia, there is not even anything like it in my Field Guide to Insects of South Africa (by Mike Picker, Charles Griffiths, and Alan Weaving).
Eric

Big namibian grashopper
Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Big namibian grashopper
Hi, we stumbled across this large and very well camouflaged grasshopper in august in a mountain range in Namibia. When we were getting very close, it started to rub its hind legs against its abdomen – making quite a loud noise (obviously to scare us away). Very fascinating bug this one. What species can it be?
Geir
Namibia

Grasshopper from Namibia

Hi Geir
Wow, that is some impressive looking grasshopper. It is toadlike. We need to do some research to try to identify its family, genus and species, but perhaps by posting your magnificent images, one of our readers will be able to assist with the answers.

Grasshopper from Namibia

Update: Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Hi Daniel:
Wow indeed! This looks like a Stone Grasshopper (sounds appropriate), in the genus Trachypetrella . There are apparently 3 species reported, although a recent paper suggests they are likely conspecific ( Irish and Roberts 2006 ) under T. anderssonii . Interestingly, they are referred to as raniform (i.e. froglike) grasshoppers and one of the species synonyms is T. rana , although I would agree with you that they look more ‘toadlike’ than ‘froglike’. Regards.
Karl

South African Grasshopper
Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 7:43 AM
Photographed at Cape Point, SA. A photo is attached.
Brett
Cape Point, South Africa

Immature Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

Hi Brett,
This is an immature Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper, AKA Gaudy Grasshopper, AKA Bushlocust, in the family Pyrgomorphidae.  It may be Phymateus saxosus, but we are not certain.  Grasshoppers in this family feed on toxic milkweed and stores the toxic compounds in their bodies.  If injested, sickness or possibly even death may result.  The warning colors are a signal to not eat.