ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — One of Georgia's most unusual bugs is crawling again — the big grasshopper known as the lubber.
They can reach up to 3 inches in length, The Athens Banner-Herald reported. They move so slowly that they're quite easy to catch by hand.
Their distinctive red and black markings (sometimes also pink, purple and yellow) also make them hard to confuse with any other insect.
Their populations are small and localized, said Paul Guillebeau, a professor of entomology at the University of Georgia.
People have reported them in their yards in Athens neighborhoods such as Five Points and Normaltown.
But they can also be found across the Southeast, said Nancy Hinkle, a UGA entomologist.
They may for some reason like cemeteries, said Guillebeau, who remembers seeing them in cemeteries growing up near Cedartown, and others have reported seeing them in Oconee Hill cemetery.
Guillebeau and his brother collected some, he recalled.
"We thought they would be a great fish bait. But they stunk. Fish would not eat them," he said.
As with many other brightly colored insects, their brilliant color is a warning to predators that they don't taste good, Guillebeau explained.
You can get an idea of that by picking one up; they'll emit a foamy substance and a foul-smelling vapor. It's not harmful to people, but it's a good warning for bug-eating creatures that they won't like it if they swallow one.
That's how they can get away with being as slow-moving as they are. Their slow movement makes it hard for them to spread; one would probably go no further than 100 yards in the summertime, and is the reason they're localized, Guillebeau said.
Lubbers don't seem to be a serious garden pest, said the entomologists.
But gardeners have told Guillebeau that the big grasshoppers chowed down on their lilies.
There are several species of lubber, including the locally Eastern and Southeastern Lubbers.
It takes a lot of insecticide to kill a lubber once it gets full-grown, Guillebeau said.
The proper way to deal with them is mechanical.
"The best thing is to grab them and squash them," Hinkle said.
