Eastern Lubber Grasshopper -Romalea Microptera - Or a Big Ass Grasshopper

I was out on the trusty Kubota tractor today doing a little brush hogging and saw what can only be described as a monster in one of the Godzilla vs Lubber grasshopper films!

This thing was so big I could see it from up in the tractor seat, and my eyesight ain't that great at all!

The Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Romalea Micoptera)

 A very large and strikingly colored grasshopper that ranges from Southeast Texas to the Mid Atlantic coast. These monsters can cause quite a bit of damage to crops and even decorative foliage, mostly in their nymph stage. As these bugs mature they don't get around as well due to their size, mostly crawling everywhere they go, they don't have a real air jump like your smaller grasshoppers do.

 I have seen several of these over the years and they seem to be mostly solitary in nature, I have never seen a swarm of them around here. I'm guessing that in earlier life cycles they might though. I can't imagine one of the slow lumbering giants being able to do much crop damage by themselves , this poor booger could hardly walk over the cut grass and weeds that I left in my trail.

Anyway an interesting look at this specimen of giant bug, hope you enjoyed it.

Got a short video too, check it out!

Logo by the always awesome @papa-pepper