2/20/2021: A little lubber update

Florida collecting trip preparations are in full swing as I hurry to tie up loose ends. The next few days will be my busiest order packing effort ever as last week’s delays and the last orders before the trip are prepped to ship.

Amidst the excitement, one of my batches of eastern lubber grasshoppers have decided to mature and I’m eager to split them up into various color projects. The eastern lubbers is extremely variable across its range and this particular southern Florida locale boasts some of the best colors. Red, orange, and lemon yellow are all produced from the same location. I’m curious as to why such diversity exists in one population but have some weak anecdotal suspicions they may prefer to mate disassortatively (individuals prefer to mate with colors different from their own), but this needs far more investigation to confirm.

For now, I’m enjoying them as they are and hope to find more new locales on my trip.

-Kyle