The Eastern lubber grasshopper on Loop Road in eastern Collier County on May 29. The Eastern lubber hops into Florida each spring and stays through much of summer decimating plants, with few able to eat the insect due to its toxins. Photo by Kelly J. Farrell
Local News
Grasshoppers back for summer
Sometimes when an animal is large, colorful and taking over the landscape, locals may assume it’s an invasive species. The Eastern lubber grasshopper, though, is a species native to Florida, arriving in May and staying for summer. Lubbers start out small and black, looking very much like crickets, only to become one of the most colorful grasshoppers— and among the largest locally, at longer than three inches.