The Eastern lubber grasshopper (Romalea guttata) is a fairly common grasshopper here in north central Florida. There are quite a few of them around my property and they tend to make good photographic subjects because compared to most grasshoppers they are very slow and lumbering. The young ones have no wings, so flight is impossible for them, and they aren’t even great jumpers compared to most grasshoppers. They also make good subjects because they are quite photogenic. They are nicely colored with black bodies, decorated in red and yellow. Their markings change as they grow towards adulthood, but the colors remain constant.

This particular individual is about mid way to adulthood and was resting at the bottom of a tree in my yard. It wasn’t particularly disturbed by my attentions, so I took advantage to get some macro shots. I love to get shots of eyes and faces, even of insects, and this guy was very co-operative. These guys eat plants, so most of my gardening friends don’t care for them, but around here, almost everything is welcome. And keep in mind, they tend to quickly disperse after hatching, so most of the time the damage that they do to plants is minimal.