Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

Romalea microptera — the eastern lubber grasshopper — is one of the largest grasshoppers in North America and one of the most chemically defended orthopterans in the world. The species is found across the southeastern US from North Carolina to Florida and west to Texas. Adults are 5-8 cm body length (females larger than males), bright yellow with bold black markings on the wings, abdomen, and legs (warning coloration — aposematism). Despite being grasshoppers, lubbers are FLIGHTLESS — the wings are reduced to vestigial pads (the species name 'microptera' means 'small-winged') and adults cannot fly. The slow, ground-bound lifestyle is part of why the species is so heavily chemically defended. When threatened, lubbers exude a foul-smelling, FOAM-PRODUCING toxic chemical defense from glands in the thorax — the foam is acrid, irritating to predator mucous membranes, and contains alkaloids and phenolic compounds that make the grasshopper unpalatable to most birds, lizards, and small mammals. The species also produces a loud hissing sound from the thoracic spiracles when threatened. The defense is effective: most native predators avoid lubbers entirely, and lubber populations build up to high densities in southeastern habitats. The species' most-photographed behavior is the MASS NYMPH PROCESSION: juvenile lubbers are jet-black with bright red or yellow stripes (different warning colors than adults) and emerge in spring in dense single-file marching processions across roads, lawns, and gardens. The processions can contain hundreds of nymphs and look like miniature black-and-red wagon trains crossing the landscape. Lubbers are agricultural pests in some southeastern crops (citrus, vegetable gardens) but are equally famous in southern natural history as a flagship grasshopper species. The species is harmless to humans (no bite, no sting) but the chemical foam can stain skin and clothing.