Lubber grasshoppers

Lubber grasshopper nymphs perched on a newly budded hickory branch. They didn’t take a single nibble of the tender foliage, just climbed the sapling for refuge at night.

 WaterLine photo by Capt. Josh Olive

I was walking in the woods with a friend and we were discussing the plants and animals as we came across them. We had enjoyed a variety of spring surprises — several species of butterflies, a late flock of robins, blue-eyed grass flowers — and all we had taken was a few photos.

Then we came upon about 30 black-and-yellow lubber grasshopper nymphs clinging to a few sedges. My friend, who had seemed quite sane up to that point, suddenly went into an insecticidal rage. He began stomping the nymphs that were on the ground, then knocking the rest off the vegetation and crushing them into the sandy dirt.


   

Capt. Josh Olive is a fifth-generation native Florida Cracker and a Florida Master Naturalist, and has been fascinated by all sorts of wild things and places since he was able to walk. If you have questions about living with wildlife, contact him at Publisher@WaterLineWeekly.com or 941-276-9657.

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