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Black Eastern Lubbers


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6 replies to this topic

#1 Offline CampoKing - Posted February 12 2019 - 4:45 PM

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So in addition to ants, I'm raising these cool giant grasshoppers native to Louisiana: the black eastern lubber grasshopper. I found a pod of eggs in early July, and the interesting thing to me about the lifecycle of these large critters is the eggs take about 200 days to hatch, regardless of external temperature. So over 200 days later, after sitting in moist coconut fiber on a desk, or in the kitchen, or in a spare room, over all these months, now they're hatching this February. Five nymphs have popped up so far, and I'm excited.
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They're a beautiful bold black and red, even though the adult parents are marked in yellow. I'll be very curious how long they will keep the red color.

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A friend told me they look like locusts, but they're not related so far as I know. They travel in groups as young nymphs, but are mostly loners as adults, coming together to mate and produce maybe 1-3 egg pods per year, with the eggs overwintering by design. The grasshoppers live maybe six months, and only have one generation a year.
Now, like bees, the coloration of these grasshoppers is a warning. They're toxic in the wild, but mostly because of their diet. They sequester a variety of toxins from the highly variable selection of forbs they eat naturally. It's kind of like dart frogs: perfectly harmless as pets, unless the frogs are allowed to eat their natural diet of a certain small beetle which makes them fiercely lethal.
In Louisiana, these giant, slow, non-flying grasshoppers get ran over and stepped on all the time, but not a damn thing touches their remains: the poisonous dead body of the grasshopper is avoided by every other animal out there, including ants. So, altogether, I find these weird gentle giants fascinating, and I'm happy my collection of eggs is hatching.

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#2 Offline Ants4fun - Posted February 12 2019 - 5:07 PM

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Really interesting... Love the look of these guys.


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#3 Offline 123LordOfAnts123 - Posted February 12 2019 - 5:55 PM

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I regularly find ants eating the ones I smash. They sure love eating my amaryllis.

#4 Offline CampoKing - Posted February 12 2019 - 6:13 PM

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:)

Edited by CampoKing, February 14 2019 - 12:22 PM.


#5 Offline CampoKing - Posted February 17 2019 - 10:22 AM

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Now up to nine nymphs, with about twenty eggs left. Already planning on using a large Repti Breeze habitat for them, complete with heat lamp and custom fogger for humidity. Big question for later: How does Colorado altitude affect the size + lifespan of a naturally sea level insect?

#6 Offline FSTP - Posted February 18 2019 - 8:10 AM

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Gothic Grasshopper 



#7 Offline kellakk - Posted February 18 2019 - 12:51 PM

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I love lubbers! The subfamily in general tend to be very exotic-looking, even the ones that live in the US.  Dragon lubbers, toad lubbers, horse lubbers, etc. all have unique forms that really stand out.  Too bad they don't breed easily.

 

Anyways, I wish you luck in keeping these!


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Current Species:
Camponotus fragilis

Novomessor cockerelli

Pogonomyrmex montanus

Pogonomyrmex rugosus

Manica bradleyi

 

 





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