“Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are Testing the Patience of DeBary Residents with Their Unsightly Appearance”

DEBARY, Fla. – If you’ve seen them, you’d know them: they’re Eastern lubber grasshoppers. Maybe the name doesn’t sound familiar, but the look is distinct.

“They look like big ugly critters,” said John Ryan, who lives in DeBary. “Black and yellow.”

Ryan’s perspective isn’t exactly neutral — nor does he try to hide it.

Last year, after observing these grasshoppers swarm the plants in his front yard, he hired a pest control service to get rid of them.

“Hundreds,” Ryan recalled. “I had them all over. They’re ugly and they’re quick. And they jump.”

It was a separate neighbor on Ryan’s block who suggested News 6 send a crew to check out the clusters of grasshoppers in the area.

We found these insects in large groups on plants and trees on a couple properties in the neighborhood. They appeared to be feeding off the vegetation.

“It eats plants primarily,” said Dr. Norman Leppla, a professor of entomology at the University of Florida. “It’s also somewhat toxic so animals could perhaps get a little sick from chewing on them. It isn’t a real problem, but people need to be aware of it. They do have toxic chemicals in it.”

The toxins help the grasshopper stave off potential predators, but do not necessarily make them dangerous to humans.

“Well, humans don’t generally try to eat them,” Dr. Leppla said. “I suppose if a kid ate them, they might get a little sick, but they’re not dangerous.”

Leppla said these grasshoppers tend to grow as they age, but that they only produce one generation per year.

“So it’s nice for people to know they’re going to go away fairly soon and won’t be back again till next year,” he said.