Beautiful arthropod?!
Location: Naples FL
April 26, 2012 9:27 pm
Hi, and thank you for your help! I took a photo of what I believe is a cricket, but I have never seen one so colorful before. The photo was taken April 24, 2012, in Naples FL. I love the vibrant color, but it certainly seems like it would only attract predators as well. Can you name this bug?
Signature: Heather Argyle
Hi Heather,
The Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, Romalea microptera, really is a colorful creature and there are two distinct color variations, the other being black with orange markings. According to BugGuide: “Adults are flightless. Coloration is aposematic (warning), apparently this species is distasteful to vertebrate predators. When disturbed, it will spread its wings, hiss, and secrete a smelly fluid from its spiracles (1). In some regions individuals are prevalently black, in others orange or yellow.”