Field Guide: Land Lubbers hit South Beach

Young Ones

I am constantly fascinated by the flora and fauna I find in my little South Beach back yard, and the insects are no exception. These grasshoppers congregating on a dead rosemary plant caught my attention the other day. Knowing next to nothing about bugs, I looked it up and discovered they were Southeastern Lubbers. While the name might not ring any bells for you, it was interesting for me to discover they were juvenile versions of some grasshoppers I'd photographed two summers ago! These guys don't jump much, and cannot fly, so they just sort of walk around very slowly. Hence the name "Lubbers." And, although they can do a lot of damage to plants, I haven't had any problems with them. I could never exterminate them- they're too cool looking. See for yourself.

Hello there!

Southeastern Lubber / alien life form

crawling very, very slowly