Romalea is a genus of grasshoppers native to the Southeastern and South-central United States. Its single species is Romalea microptera, known commonly as the eastern lubber grasshopper, Florida lubber, or Florida lubber grasshopper.


It is the most distinctive grasshopper species within the Southeastern US, and is well known for its size and its unique coloration. It can reach nearly 3 inches (8 cm) in size.


The nymph or immature eastern lubber grasshopper differs dramatically in appearance from the adults. Their color pattern is so different from the adult stage that the nymphs commonly are mistaken for a different species than the adult form. Nymphs (immature grasshoppers) typically are almost completely black, but with a distinctive yellow, orange, or red stripe located dorsally (though occasionally they are reddish brown).


The hopper’s face, edge of the pronotum, and abdominal segments also may contain reddish accents. Often the reddish accents change to yellow over the course of development. When they first molt, the young hoppers may be brownish, but they soon darken to black.


R. microptera inhabits regions west of North Carolina to Tennessee, in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas, and throughout Florida, Missouri, and Arizona. They live in open pinewoods, weedy vegetation, and weedy fields. – Wikipedia

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Photographed in Florida.

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Photo taken near the zoo in Naples.

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This butterfly was one of twenty or thirty flying and landing on flowers in a backyard habitat.

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