If you're finding some of your favorite foliage disappearing right before your eyes, you don't have to look far to find the culprit. Its that season again. Florida's Giant Orange Grasshoppers or Eastern Lubbers are in their adult prime right now.This gigantic, slow moving grasshopper’s bright orange, yellow and red colors are a warning to its animal predators that it contains toxins that will make them sick. If for any reason, a person refuses to heed the 
color warning and pick it up, the grasshopper makes a loud hissing noise and may secrete an irritating foul-smelling brown foamy spray, sometimes called "tobacco spit"'.
color warning and pick it up, the grasshopper makes a loud hissing noise and may secrete an irritating foul-smelling brown foamy spray, sometimes called "tobacco spit"'. Lubbers lay eggs in caches of 25 to 50 in the summertime, which spend the winter underground. In the springtime, mid-March in Florida, wingless nymphs emerge and partake in a feeding frenzy. One swarm took my 15 inch Xanadu bush down to the roots this past spring. They are perhaps an inch long, black with a yellow stripe on the backs, and usually spotted in swarms. 
They will molt their exoskeleton at least 5 times roughly every two weeks, until they become mature and the life cycle continues again. As they mature, their bodies take on a new adult shape and coloration. Although they have small wings, they are flightless, but their large back legs allow them giant leaps of up to 20 times their body length.
They will molt their exoskeleton at least 5 times roughly every two weeks, until they become mature and the life cycle continues again. As they mature, their bodies take on a new adult shape and coloration. Although they have small wings, they are flightless, but their large back legs allow them giant leaps of up to 20 times their body length. These 4-inch grasshoppers are too large and toxic for most natural predators, so they don’t need to move fast. If eaten, their toxin can kill a small animal, or make a good size bird really sick. They feed on broadleaf ornamentals, orchids, and even citrus, and can really become a nuisance when swarms invade residential areas. Lubbers seem to be unaffected by most insecticides, except in the nymph stage. If they invade a garden, the best way to get rid of them is to stomp on them, or ‘hand pick’ them and drown them in a bucket of soapy water.
I have personally smashed them with a sandal and knocked them into the garden, only to find that they have dragged themselves off somewhere to recuperate. Its time for a good pair of brogans.
Sources:
Wild Florida Eco-Travel Guide http://www.wildflorida.com/
American Orchid Society http://www.aos.org/
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