See tips to manage the eastern lubber grasshopper, a pest that will eat many plants, including citrus and vegetables.

A recent UF/IFAS blog shared information on the eastern lubber grasshopper, including tips on managing the pest. According to the blog, the grasshoppers “are out in force throughout the Southeast, including some parts of Florida. They’re munching away on landscape plants, citrus and vegetable crops…” It is described as varying degrees of yellow and black, a bit slow and clumsy, and also notable for being so big. They damage crops and ornamentals by feeding on leaves; they can even strip all the foliage from plants. See tips below for managing this pest.

Managing the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

Tips in the blog for managing the eastern lubber grasshopper were shared by UF/IFAS entomologist, Professor Norm Leppla, and others:

  • Wearing gloves, remove the grasshoppers by hand and throw in a bucket of soapy water.
  • “Insecticide sprays usually are not needed or effective.”
  • The use of a bait.
  • Encouraging predators such as the “loggerhead shrike.”
  • “If you’re going to use a chemical to manage them, spray early in their life cycle, when the grasshoppers are still immature for best results. As the grasshoppers grow into adults, they are more difficult to kill with chemicals. Look for insecticides containing the following active ingredients bifenthrin, cyhalothrin, permethrin, esfenvalerate and spinosad and apply as specified in the label.”

Be careful when handling the grasshopper, as the blog shared “when alarmed, lubbers spread their wings, hiss, and secrete foul-smelling forth from their spiracles – external respiratory openings.

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