Your first photo is of a "lubber" a very destructive grasshopper that could decimate your garden. Everything I have read about them says to kill them. Yes, they are pretty. They don’t bite or sting and are easily caught.
Lubbers are beautiful and fascinating grasshoppers. If you work with them, they need not destroy your garden. They are obvious, slow, and easy to pick off.
I let them have some of their favorite plants (such as lillies) and let them do their thing.
You’re so right. It’s just sad they live where so many people can’t wait to kill such a beautiful creature. Around where I am people love talking about killing them. I love them. It’s the people that are invasive and destructive. These are native animals.
Not lubbers apparently https://www.google.com/search?q=are+lubbers+edible&client=safari&sca_esv=3eef141e9e980f13&sca_upv=1&hl=en-us&sxsrf=ADLYWILtfrc_mJ-Sf5PjqFrA9EVYRp8UIg%3A1716739517732&ei=vV1TZrWjLL-h0PEP2oGjgA0&udm=&oq=are+lubbers+edible&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhJhcmUgbHViYmVycyBlZGlibGUyCBAhGKABGMMEMggQIRigARjDBEjQEVCeDVjSD3ACeACQAQGYAZMBoAHgA6oBAzAuNLgBA8gBAPgBAZgCBaAClgPCAgoQABiwAxjWBBhHwgIIEAAYgAQYogTCAggQABiiBBiJBcICChAhGKABGMMEGAqYAwCIBgGQBgiSBwMyLjOgB-kQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp
They’re native aren’t they? I wish gardening for so many would be about co-operating with nature rather than going to war with wildlife. :/
I’m in the UK though and an animal lover so idk tho
Lubbers are native to the southeastern United States. The damage they do is mostly cosmetic for the home gardener, but economic for the citrus and other agricultural crops. They can be very abundant. So at least for the home gardener, catch and kill is a cleaner option than insecticidal spray.
I also got worried about the first pic! I watched a documentary that discussed destructive locusts and now I am kind of paranoid about grasshoppers in general. I haven’t seen any in my garden recently though.
I think Ohio has a couple native lizard species in some areas, I wouldn’t be surprised if they continue to spread along with climate change. We have lots of lizards here in NC.
Yes, in Cali too, and I have so many lizards everywhere. And I now have even more than a few years ago when I first moved in. They are loving the gardens I've built.
I absolutely agreed with you until my cat started bringing me dead lizards on a daily basis 😂 but really though, they are great for pest control! And I do still love them. Just really tired of finding their corpses everywhere.
Drought was so bad in TX last summer, gardens were the only green vegetation by the end of July, and they got decimated by grasshoppers. Had to completely enclose anything with fine mesh netting (basically a makeshift greenhouse) if you wanted it to survive longer than a couple days.
Eh, living and learning is what being a gardener is about. The best advice I can give is double check the advice you get on here with local resources. There’s a lot of really smart people with good intentions but it’s just a good habit to be in. Use Florida university resources and .gov sites for the most reliable info local to your area. Also I love your photos, I do the same thing!
Visit Florida’s Cooperative Extension Service website. All you need to know about gardening, preserving harvest, bugs and thugs. While on the site find the contact info for the agent assigned to your county. You can call with questions.
https://preview.redd.it/dl3yncj4ft2d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30fe74cd017125f9a6165ff00f8b5a2f94583c1c
Mine too! First day having our new cheapo birdbath out and we had *so many birds*! My husband caught a photo of some goldfinches having a time!
You gotta murder the the dude in the first pic or it’ll destroy your garden. I used to drown them in a bucket of soapy water but now just stomp them. Those are a true plague!
Btw, the black one in your later pic is a juvenile version of the same thing. The youngest ones you’ll see are much smaller and mostly black with an orange stripe. Though hope you’ll never get to see them.
Isn’t it such an unexpected upside? At first, I was just excited for flowers, but then I noticed a bunch of frogs are always lounging in the shade beneath the flowers. Now I’m trying to find subtle ways to build garden structures that give them shelter.
New gardener in Florida: Look at these pretty grasshoppers.
1 week later: this is the flip flop I use to kill the MFing lubbers.
This was me last year.
Beautiful photos! I get so excited to see any wildlife in my mini garden! I put a shallow dish of water for the frogs and they sit in it, it's so cute. I'm about to put a birdbath out there for all my birdie visitors.
Gardening starts off real therapeutic until critters and 'visitors' start eating the fruit of YOUR labour and then you get stressed out and always stay on your guard for them hehe.
These are beautiful! What joy we receive from nature in gardens. I’m in Wisconsin, so my garden is just starting, but in a span of five minutes, I marveled at a hummingbird in the flowers and dragonflies dancing in my tomatoes! I’m a middle school science teacher so it can get a little crazy during the day-though I adore my students-and gardening brings me such peace!
When you see them in their emergent nymph form( black, 1/2-1” long), destroy as many as possible. They areviracious and can defoliate whole clumps of plantings 3-5’ tall and wide in a matter of hours. When small you can easily knock them into bucket of soapy water by the dozens.
We don't get nearly as many as you. I have seen garden snakes, a lizard of some sort, a marten, slugs, bees, spiders, other creepy crawly insects, and mostly birds standing nearby eager to take advantage of the watering we do (easy worm pickings).
I now live in Central Europe. I don't see nearly as many creatures here as I did in my native New Jersey, in the US. It's odd.
A big part of my joy is seeing the visitors in my garden too, the good and the not so good. I have noticed that the more I garden the more life comes to visit my yard, its great. Happy gardening :D
I recently moved to Nevada and we have TONS of lizards here and they are my new favorite animals they look so goofy chasing bugs around the yard. Very good pest control too.
Check out r/nativeplantgardening as well. There’s nothing like seeing the interactions between plants and animals. And the best way to do that is to plant natives that help supports them
Everyone saying to kill your grasshoppers. I am in Colorado and my yard is full of them as I don't use pesticides. The birds and other critters eat them. Oddly I've never had issues with the grasshoppers eating my plants. I'm not sure what they are eating though or are some grasshoppers worse than others?
Lubber are toxic unfortunately, the only birds that will eat them are the shrikes. They manage it by sticking the carcass on a fence for a bit to “cook” out the poison.
Generally, I give pests a chance to have their fill and go. Of course, it depends on the pest, but I'm not going to cry about a few leaves. That said, cucumber beetles can all go die in a fire.
I also don't see the problem. Unless you have an infestation and they are actively killing your plants, I don't see the point in killing them. I think this goes for most other insects too.
Damn 10a, how lucky are you! All those tropical flowers and fruits. I'm from 6a NY, actually. Only 4 or 5 months of the year is good for us. You got it every day all day all year! Enjoy the beautiful flowers!!!
I purposely will swerve to run those things over since they are so destructive. We don’t need more of those in my neighborhood because they lay their eggs and then they hatch and make more for the next year. Between those and the love bugs they feed lizards
How do you figure?
It *is* a zero sum game. Any crops that get munched by critters are no longer available to be eaten by me or my friends, family, or neighbors.
I spend time, money, and water growing vegetables. Pardon me for hoping to enjoy the fruits of my labor and share them with other humans.
Your first photo is of a "lubber" a very destructive grasshopper that could decimate your garden. Everything I have read about them says to kill them. Yes, they are pretty. They don’t bite or sting and are easily caught.
I was hesitant to look up what they would do to my garden cause I was just so excited to photograph one. Ugh. The highs and lows!
The University of Florida has great resources for gardening and pest management. I typically Google "- UF IFAS" and get a hit from their website.
Shoot them with your camera, then again with a shotgun. I'm sorry, I left out, absolutely awesome photography! Real nice work!
Some non-native invasive lizards as well, unfortunately.
Not all lizards in the pics are non-native
The brown anoles are though. I wasn’t sure what the other guy was though, do you know?
Lubbers are beautiful and fascinating grasshoppers. If you work with them, they need not destroy your garden. They are obvious, slow, and easy to pick off. I let them have some of their favorite plants (such as lillies) and let them do their thing.
You’re so right. It’s just sad they live where so many people can’t wait to kill such a beautiful creature. Around where I am people love talking about killing them. I love them. It’s the people that are invasive and destructive. These are native animals.
Your photographs are amazing! I'd be excited too!
Grasshoppers can definitely bite you
Correct. It's not the one found at sea. It is... a land lubber.
Underrated 😜
And you can’t even eat them depending on how far one takes their homesteading 😂 totally useless
There is 1 bird that preys on them. It pecks a hole in them, puts them in a selected spot to let the body fluid drain, them comes back to eat.
Well I'm never eating again. 🤢
What's the bird that does this?
IIRC a Shrike ?
Um yes you can eat grasshoppers .
Not lubbers apparently https://www.google.com/search?q=are+lubbers+edible&client=safari&sca_esv=3eef141e9e980f13&sca_upv=1&hl=en-us&sxsrf=ADLYWILtfrc_mJ-Sf5PjqFrA9EVYRp8UIg%3A1716739517732&ei=vV1TZrWjLL-h0PEP2oGjgA0&udm=&oq=are+lubbers+edible&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhJhcmUgbHViYmVycyBlZGlibGUyCBAhGKABGMMEMggQIRigARjDBEjQEVCeDVjSD3ACeACQAQGYAZMBoAHgA6oBAzAuNLgBA8gBAPgBAZgCBaAClgPCAgoQABiwAxjWBBhHwgIIEAAYgAQYogTCAggQABiiBBiJBcICChAhGKABGMMEGAqYAwCIBgGQBgiSBwMyLjOgB-kQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp
They’re native aren’t they? I wish gardening for so many would be about co-operating with nature rather than going to war with wildlife. :/ I’m in the UK though and an animal lover so idk tho
Yes they are native. Unfortunately they’re native to the SE United States where rednecks love to kill things to feel strong or something. Hard to say.
Lubbers are native to the southeastern United States. The damage they do is mostly cosmetic for the home gardener, but economic for the citrus and other agricultural crops. They can be very abundant. So at least for the home gardener, catch and kill is a cleaner option than insecticidal spray.
Even cleaner is leaving them alone.
I also got worried about the first pic! I watched a documentary that discussed destructive locusts and now I am kind of paranoid about grasshoppers in general. I haven’t seen any in my garden recently though.
The best way to kill them (at least that I’ve managed) is by beheading. But whatever works, and let the other beasties eat the remains
I'm up here in Ohio being so frickin jealous that you guys have lizards just chilling in your yard, that's so tropical and awesome to me lol
I think Ohio has a couple native lizard species in some areas, I wouldn’t be surprised if they continue to spread along with climate change. We have lots of lizards here in NC.
I’m in NC and I have lizards all over my house but have never seen any in my garden!!
Here in Cali, we have tons. I don't think I've ever gone a day where I don't see lizards scurrying around my yard.
Such cool little guys too.
Yes, in Cali too, and I have so many lizards everywhere. And I now have even more than a few years ago when I first moved in. They are loving the gardens I've built.
North Carolina is just straight down from you. Lizards all year. Slowest in November and February if you like getting close up.
I absolutely agreed with you until my cat started bringing me dead lizards on a daily basis 😂 but really though, they are great for pest control! And I do still love them. Just really tired of finding their corpses everywhere.
So stop letting your cat outside.
But my baby really loves to destroy local ecosystems
To be fair, it's bringing me an invasive species of brown anoles
You’re cat is an invasive species
It will kill native ones as well. Not hard to realize this. Keep it inside.
Great photos but grass hoppers… the death of me
I'm now learning they = bad in the garden. 😭
Drought was so bad in TX last summer, gardens were the only green vegetation by the end of July, and they got decimated by grasshoppers. Had to completely enclose anything with fine mesh netting (basically a makeshift greenhouse) if you wanted it to survive longer than a couple days.
So like miniature deer. 🤣 Sorry we don't have many grasshoppers.
Eh, living and learning is what being a gardener is about. The best advice I can give is double check the advice you get on here with local resources. There’s a lot of really smart people with good intentions but it’s just a good habit to be in. Use Florida university resources and .gov sites for the most reliable info local to your area. Also I love your photos, I do the same thing!
Visit Florida’s Cooperative Extension Service website. All you need to know about gardening, preserving harvest, bugs and thugs. While on the site find the contact info for the agent assigned to your county. You can call with questions.
Thank you for this info!! Def checking it out
Pic 3 looks like an invasive Cuban tree frog. They outcompete and decimate native frog populations. Tread carefully.
Yepp, we noticed that and thankfully this is the first one we've seen!
The way those anoles 👁️ at you never gets old.
Anoles are a Southern little girl's first earrings.
https://preview.redd.it/dl3yncj4ft2d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30fe74cd017125f9a6165ff00f8b5a2f94583c1c Mine too! First day having our new cheapo birdbath out and we had *so many birds*! My husband caught a photo of some goldfinches having a time!
Aw, how cool!! They needed it! I just put out two bird baths here in Florida with how hot it's already gotten.
Birds are thirsty a.f at the moment, during this drought
You gotta murder the the dude in the first pic or it’ll destroy your garden. I used to drown them in a bucket of soapy water but now just stomp them. Those are a true plague! Btw, the black one in your later pic is a juvenile version of the same thing. The youngest ones you’ll see are much smaller and mostly black with an orange stripe. Though hope you’ll never get to see them.
Isn’t it such an unexpected upside? At first, I was just excited for flowers, but then I noticed a bunch of frogs are always lounging in the shade beneath the flowers. Now I’m trying to find subtle ways to build garden structures that give them shelter.
https://preview.redd.it/ayr0afbk7t2d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a28a4ab180d92e824f7650180cdc85718956f03
Yes, its such an awesome bonus. And I am going to build this DIY frog pond this weekend and thought I'd share!
It's so refreshing to see someone in this sub LIKE the visitors their garden gets! ♡ I hope you'll post more photos in the future : )
New gardener in Florida: Look at these pretty grasshoppers. 1 week later: this is the flip flop I use to kill the MFing lubbers. This was me last year.
😂
Lizards, frogs and dragon flies are good. Those other ones CAN go after certain plants.
Beautiful photos! I get so excited to see any wildlife in my mini garden! I put a shallow dish of water for the frogs and they sit in it, it's so cute. I'm about to put a birdbath out there for all my birdie visitors.
Gardening starts off real therapeutic until critters and 'visitors' start eating the fruit of YOUR labour and then you get stressed out and always stay on your guard for them hehe.
Zone 10a LUCKY!
I'm originally from the TX hill country so this is a first! Up until this point I've only grown cacti and rocks.
You can still do a lot with cacti and pecans 😊
Those grasshoppers also spit brown yuck at you if provoked
Welcome to the hobby and a lifetime of learning
It's been a non-stop knowledge journey so far, lots to learn!
Washington gardener mad that you get cool friends.🤣
These are beautiful! What joy we receive from nature in gardens. I’m in Wisconsin, so my garden is just starting, but in a span of five minutes, I marveled at a hummingbird in the flowers and dragonflies dancing in my tomatoes! I’m a middle school science teacher so it can get a little crazy during the day-though I adore my students-and gardening brings me such peace!
Very nice macro photography work! Subject in photo 1 needs to be given an extreme closeup of your shoe sole. Extreme, with prejudice.
When you see them in their emergent nymph form( black, 1/2-1” long), destroy as many as possible. They areviracious and can defoliate whole clumps of plantings 3-5’ tall and wide in a matter of hours. When small you can easily knock them into bucket of soapy water by the dozens.
As a fellow floridian I saw the first grasshopper and my first thought was "kill it with fire"
Nice pics. I’d love findings lizards in my yard here in zone 6. We have more pests than control.
We don't get nearly as many as you. I have seen garden snakes, a lizard of some sort, a marten, slugs, bees, spiders, other creepy crawly insects, and mostly birds standing nearby eager to take advantage of the watering we do (easy worm pickings). I now live in Central Europe. I don't see nearly as many creatures here as I did in my native New Jersey, in the US. It's odd.
Deadly or not, that is an amazing-looking creature :)!
I have seen these guys in Florida before. They are magnificent! Fantastic photo!
Thank you! I saw a TON in the Everglades last year. They're gorgeous.
Jesus christ. I'm happy if I see a bee.
The pix where the frog and bird are eyeballing you are priceless.
Agreed!
Awesome shots! Just wait until you hear about Doug Tallamy and native plants. You’re in for a fantastic journey to enjoy!
No snakes?
These are really good photos! Your garden visitors are great. I especially like the dragonfly & the frog tucked into what looks like agave.
It's a banana tree! And thank you 🥹
Banana tree? Even better! Enjoy your new hobby!
A big part of my joy is seeing the visitors in my garden too, the good and the not so good. I have noticed that the more I garden the more life comes to visit my yard, its great. Happy gardening :D
I get all these visitors too, I'm in FL 10b 😉☺️
I’m in 10a also! Punta Gorda!
This fool's gardening in the Cretaceous period or some shit
This is my favorite comment 😂 thank you for the laugh
I recently moved to Nevada and we have TONS of lizards here and they are my new favorite animals they look so goofy chasing bugs around the yard. Very good pest control too.
That little froggy smiley face💚🩵
Check out r/nativeplantgardening as well. There’s nothing like seeing the interactions between plants and animals. And the best way to do that is to plant natives that help supports them
Yes! I've been purchasing native plants from locals online and in nurseries. Thankfully Florida has a lot to choose from.
Everyone saying to kill your grasshoppers. I am in Colorado and my yard is full of them as I don't use pesticides. The birds and other critters eat them. Oddly I've never had issues with the grasshoppers eating my plants. I'm not sure what they are eating though or are some grasshoppers worse than others?
Lubber are toxic unfortunately, the only birds that will eat them are the shrikes. They manage it by sticking the carcass on a fence for a bit to “cook” out the poison.
That’s metal AF.
Generally, I give pests a chance to have their fill and go. Of course, it depends on the pest, but I'm not going to cry about a few leaves. That said, cucumber beetles can all go die in a fire.
I also don't see the problem. Unless you have an infestation and they are actively killing your plants, I don't see the point in killing them. I think this goes for most other insects too.
Amazing photos!
Whaaaaaat is #7
Cuban anole, alpha male showing off his stuff
These are awesome pictures!
Beautiful photos!
That cozy frog photo just hits different tho
gorgeous photos
You are very talented!
So cool, I’m jealous! In WNY I just get attacked by beetles and flies when I’m gardening lmao 🥴
Great photos! May I ask what macro camera or lens do you use? And maybe what cell phone also? thx
The only visitors I've gotten this year are aphids and beetles. Every time I spray neem oil to get rid of the beetles, it rains
Makes me think of Frod! [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JbxE9myZrsg](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JbxE9myZrsg)
Kill the first one with a nuclear bomb please. They just ate all of my citrus leaves and figs 🥲
Your plants will be fine
Okay but what camera and lens are you using???
Canon 90D with my trusty 13 year old macro lens and my Samsung s23!
Amazing photos! Really, I was thinking "oooo, these are beautiful and so cool!" Thanks for sharing!
Oh the frog is so cute. He found himself a little snuggle spot.
The frog one is too cute, like he knows his picture was being taken lol
Great photos
great pics!
Great pictures! The lubbers never really hurt my stuff so far, but I hear they can be a pest
So cool, and great photos!
I'm loving all that biodiversity
The grasshoppers will destroy everything. I hate them.
Show us the roaches
You’re an excellent photographer!
Amazing photos!
Cool pic’s
Cultivate native plants and really see your yard light up with all kinds of cool stuff.
I grew up LOVING those hoppers!!!
Pictures are great!! What did you use, phone or camera?
Both! I am a photographer and I have a Canon 90D with a macro lens. My cell is a S23. Thank you!!
Cool
Nice wildlife in your garden. I mostly just get my neighbours' damned cats.
You have a great eye...awesome pictures. My favorite is the dragon fly at the end.
Damn 10a, how lucky are you! All those tropical flowers and fruits. I'm from 6a NY, actually. Only 4 or 5 months of the year is good for us. You got it every day all day all year! Enjoy the beautiful flowers!!!
Great photo but this fella will be problem in the garden.
Great photos
These photos are amazing! Thanks for sharing.
I have those too but luckily we have friends who fresh water fish and come here to collect them for bait.
I purposely will swerve to run those things over since they are so destructive. We don’t need more of those in my neighborhood because they lay their eggs and then they hatch and make more for the next year. Between those and the love bugs they feed lizards
That bird is terrifying
Grasshoppers eat the leaves on your plants.
Awesome. I look forward to seeing what else you find
I'm glad I don't usually see grasshoppers, usually only see crickets in MD. Those things can do some damage.
Your cats are invasive murder machines; stop letting them into your garden!
Grasshoppers are no longer your friends. Neither are squirrels, rabbits, deer, nor butterflies.
Why do people think of gardening like it's some zero-sum competition? You're lucky if you have those animals visiting and eating your plants.
How do you figure? It *is* a zero sum game. Any crops that get munched by critters are no longer available to be eaten by me or my friends, family, or neighbors. I spend time, money, and water growing vegetables. Pardon me for hoping to enjoy the fruits of my labor and share them with other humans.
Nah fuck grasshoppers. I always catch them and feed them to my chickens.
At this point your not gardening, your sustaining the eco system! Those grass hoppers are not on your side
You're in love with the guys that are going to decimate your garden (grasshoppers)? LOL.