Black grasshopper with red trim - Romalea microptera

I have these grasshoppers eve

I have these grasshoppers everywhere! And, they are eating away at ALL of my plants and flowers... help! I am located in Center, Texas which is far East Texas. They are now in my potted plants and I don't know what to use to get rid of them without killing whats left in my flower beds and ruining the soil. Any suggestions?

… katshae, 15 June, 2009 - 11:59am

black grasshopper

Found four of these in my garden last evening. This morning almost all of my lily flowers have been eaten. In 2006 saw thousands in Destrehan about 8 miles from me.

… sheryl knouse, 8 June, 2009 - 12:50pm

grasshopper

that is what it is I have them also

… sbelle48, 31 May, 2009 - 2:29am

Lubber Grasshoppers

I live in Satsuma Al. I have been bombarded by these pest for 2 years. Last year a saw hundreds of tiny ones in a flower bed. I believe they live in the ground. Later in the year they attack and ate most of my amaryllis. The the leaves on the flowers in the bed they apparently raised in have turned brown and are no longer blooming. I have found the only way to kill them is to stomp them or
a like manner because spraying doesn't seem to deter them. If anyone can come up with a better solution respond.

… Etsie Green, 1 June, 2007 - 12:42am

devil horse grasshopper

Hi, So I hear your having trouble with the old devils horse...well here is the solution. Go to auto parts or WMart store and get a couple of spray cans of brake cleaner.....yeah I know,don't call PETA just between you and me..right?
Now is the time to get them while they're hatching out and are bunched ALL TOGETHER. Won't take much , be quick ,aim straight, FIRE!!
This works extremely well and may take a couple of seasons to get
infestation under control. P.S. results are instantaneous!! P.S.S. They will eat amaryllis all the way down to the tater and then some!! HAPPY HUNTING!!!
( Anniston,Al.)

… T.R.Good, 5 June, 2009 - 6:36pm

Likely they are distasteful to lizards

From the IFAs site "Defensive Characteristics
Eastern lubber grasshoppers possess a variety of abilities to defend themselves. Their bright color pattern is a warning to predators that the lubber contains toxic substances. Indeed, there are several records attributing the demise of individual birds to failure to exercise caution when selecting prey items. Also small mammals such as opossums have been known to vomit violently after ingesting a lubber, and to remain ill for several hours.

If the red, yellow, and black coloration fails to keep a predator at bay, then the lubber may secrete a foamy spray from the thoracic region (the portion of the body where the legs and wings are attached.) This spray consists of a number of compounds, some of which, are irritants. This bubbly froth is accompanied by a relatively loud, frightful hissing sound. The insect contracts the abdomen to force air out of the spiracles along with the defensive secretion. The sound is produced as the spray is being forced out of these tiny holes in the thorax called spiracles. Eastern lubbers, like most all grasshoppers, can also regurgitate recently consumed plant material. This regurgitant is mostly liquid and has a dark brown color. This is commonly referred to as 'tobacco spit.' The tobacco spit is partially digested food material along with some semi-toxic compounds from the insect's crop region."

… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 9 May, 2005 - 9:08am

black grasshoppers

Thanks for the info. I'll be more selective in choosing food for my Anoles. Could releasing the little buggers into my yard pose a threat to my neighbor's garden?
snakeman707

… Chuck Sheldon, 9 May, 2005 - 11:09am

black grasshoppers

Not a scientist, herp enthusiast from Southeast Louisiana. Friend brought me a bait bucket full of these beautiful black grasshoppers with red trim to feed to my anoles (green lizards). Lizards wouldn't touch them. Anybody know why?

… Chuck Sheldon, 6 May, 2005 - 4:04pm

black-redstriped grasshopper

i have purchased a new home in jacksonville,fl. and while i was inspecting my yard yesterday there were thousands of these grasshoppers and they have literally destroyed bushes and flowers. its like they are swarming everwhere and i really don't know how to get rid of these before i move in. they are gorgeous,but massively destructive. any suggestions

… sherry10, 26 April, 2005 - 10:08am

Grasshopper control

I suggest you read over this IFAS page about this species Romalea guttata. It suggests that handpicking at the younger (less destructive and not yet reproductive) stages may be the best control method, as predators usually avoid them. Maybe you can catch and release them along a roadside or in a vacant lot where they can chow down on plants and grasses no-one cares about.

More food for thought: Severe insect infestations are often a response to cultural problems which weaken a plant's defenses. Drought, for instance - I know we've had a pretty dry spring in my part of FL this year. The bushes may have been in bad shape before the grasshoppers moved onto them.

Most of us regularly using this site are, to say the least, very reluctant to advocate wholesale destruction of fellow-creatures. You will have to let your conscience be your guide.

… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 26 April, 2005 - 1:54pm

juvenile Lubber Grasshopper

Yes, I think so, Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, Romalea guttata--that's the only North American species in its genus. See the bugguide account,
and Florida Featured Creatures.

Patrick Coin
Durham, North Carolina

… Cotinis, 25 May, 2004 - 1:07am

As I suspected

Thanks for the confirmation and references, Patrick. I had found some similar sources, but oddly they usually just mention yellow trim, whereas I have seen almost all red on these guys.
I think it might be helpful to add this to the BugGuide page, but I don't know how. The only juvenile picture there has mostly yellow too.
I like it when there's only one representative of a genus in a region - it really helps with ID!!!
Hannah N-M

… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 25 May, 2004 - 6:57am

Lubber grasshopper

My husband saw one of these in Auburn, Alabama for the first time ever yesterday. I had no idea grasshoppers came in black and had to go looking it up on the internet.

… Minneyar, 9 June, 2004 - 8:58pm

lubber grasshopper

We have had them for a while but only seeing them occasionally. This year, however, has been quite different. They've been plentiful. They destroyed some of my flowers. They are everywhere, the yards, the driveway and all over the road. Of course, my land does have quite a bit of trees around and moisture which I don't know if that contributes to the increase of them. But then, we've been living here for many years and they've only this year been so numerous. My 12 yr old son says the only predator he thinks they have (besides man and car) is the hummingbird that he saw u-turn in the air to eat one. What elements make for more breeding at some times more than others? Does anyone know?

… mommaj, 31 August, 2004 - 7:20pm

Lubber Grasshopper

There was an article in our Montgomery Advertiser today that mentioned this grasshopper in Anniston Ala. The article reminded me of what was always in my grandmother's backyard in the summer. This was in the '60's and '70's. She lived in Sylacauga which is not too far from Anniston. She was always stomping those unusual black grasshoppers with the red stripe who would try to eat up her garden every year. They never flew and I think I remember a particular smell, or maybe it was insecticide.

Does anyone else out there have experience with these creatures?

When I was a child, I didn't know that grasshoppers were GREEN!

… CDykes, 15 June, 2004 - 4:16pm

black grasshoppers

I too lived in sylacauga for a while. My Mothers yard has been infested with the black grasshoppers also. No animals were known to eat them exept for fish like bass and perch. The only way to nail down the population is to get them in early spring when they first come out of the ground and cluster together. This is the only time you can kill them in a mass at a time. I tried this for two years and it worked. Now its hard to find a single one in her yard.

… djackson, 24 July, 2009 - 10:13am

See my message below

Hi - if you are still infested with the Lubbers, see my message below - I am looking for locations to collect these grasshoppers to be preserved for science classroom dissections. Send me an email if you have grasshoppers we could collect. Thanks!

… TSadler, 7 August, 2009 - 2:15pm

Grasshoppers in Gadsden, AL

I used to catch these every summer in a churchyard by my grandmother's house. It was in Tidmore Bend, right outside of Gadsden, AL. This is close to Anniston also. I have never seen them anywhere else, except that one churchyard. I was never able to find one in the surrounding fields are yards. Are these grasshoppers very territorial?

… dpopehouston, 27 September, 2006 - 9:35am

Black Grasshoppers

I too am from the Gadsden area (Alabama City). When I was a child, a neighbor friend and I used to play with these as kids. These insects were very plentiful in those days. (Early 1960's) We as children were unaware of their toxicity. We were aware of the strange smell. We thought it was the tobacco.

… sbell, 16 September, 2009 - 10:11am

I don't know about territorial

but check the info page and the links on it and you'll see they stick together in groups when young and are slow-moving as adults, so it's likely they don't go very far from where they originally hatch.

… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 27 September, 2006 - 11:49am

Devil's Horse

These are what the Old Timers call Devils Horses. They ARE, in fact eastern lubbers, and the previous scientific classification is close enough because the true taxonomy of this insect is the subject of ongoing debate.

The juveniles, or nymphs in this case are black with red, and black with yellow stripes, usually getting brown as they grow older, although this varies. Research is lacking because they do not pose a significant danger to the economy, or human well being. I suspect that the diverse phenotype of this organism is due to the unexplained phenomenon similar to that of population density phase change morphology seen in locust.

The unusual smell that you remember is a defense mechanism of the lubber, and when frightened the lubber will hiss, buzz its wings, and secrete a keytone like substance as foam. This secretion is obtained through the assimilation of plants that are normally poisonous, and converted into the noxious keytone. Strangely enough, a similar keytone is available through retailers in a crystallized form to keep cats, and dogs away from flowers.

… JAG, 19 June, 2004 - 2:51am

lubber grasshopper

Perhps they do no harm, but they are not nice to have around. In my yard and the yards to my right and my left and back, for the past week I have been on the warpath although I searched for them all spring & summer, but there are so mnay now. I kill about 60 a day in the area described. Today I killed 88!!! Easily I have killed over 500 since end of May. Now I see some mating and I am horrified. They are already beginning to lay eggs?? How long after the female has mated do they lay eggs? If we have 500 females lay 2 to 120 eggs each this year think how many thousands we'll have next year. I am frantic!! Any suggestions? graves37

… graves37, 5 July, 2004 - 5:26pm

red and black grasshopper

I have seen many of these in Western Tennessee, i like to call them................fishbait grasshoppers lol

… oggyogg, 5 September, 2005 - 12:56am

Black grasshoppers

I live in western central Fla...last year I noticed these grasshoppers and they eat everything in sight first part of April I saw 100's of baby ones but didn't know that was the same bug...now they are at it again..the only way I have found to get rid of these things is to load my gun and shoot them..if anyone has a less violent way to get rid of these things please let me know.

… sbelle48, 31 May, 2009 - 2:28am

vacuuming black grasshoppers

i lived in ocala a few years ago and my garden became infested with these critters. i don't think they are as voracious as other types, but there were hundreds and it totally destroyed the enjoyment of my gardens. I don't much like to use insecticide, and the thought of hand picking them was horrible. so...i got out my extension cord and my shop vacuum and sucked them off my plants. they are very slow moving, so it was easy to vacuum up a few hundred in a late afternoon session. i would then just pour them into a plastic bag and...well here is the bad part....stomp them so they wouldn't crawl out, and put them in the trash.

… topline1, 12 July, 2009 - 11:19am

I need to collect these Lubbers!

Hello. I am with Carolina Biological Supply Company in Burlington, NC. We are one of the leading science suppliers in the US. We need to collect Lubber Grasshoppers (Romalea microptera) for science. If they are in full season in your area right now, I'd like to know where that is! We would like to collect them or pay someone else to collect them for us. Please email with any information you can give me - tammy.sadler@carolina.com. Thank you!

… TSadler, 7 August, 2009 - 1:07pm

collecting grasshoppers

we have just moved to the alex city area and we have a good many of the grasshoppers in our yard. we have some with red trim, some with a red dot on their backs and some with yellow like trim. so how would you collect these.

… bsgggbooth, 25 August, 2009 - 5:36pm