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The eastern lubber is surely the most distinctive grasshopper species in the southeastern United States. It is well known both for its size and its unique coloration. The wings offer little help with mobility for they are rarely more than half the length of the abdomen. This species is incapable of flight and can jump only short distances. The eastern lubber is quite clumsy and slow in movement and mostly travels by walking and crawling feebly over the substrate.
Lubbers have aposematic colouration: their bright colours warn predators that they are not palatable. In the wild, if approached by a predator, the lubber will display its red rear wings, which are normally kept folded beneath the front wings. If the predator is not scared off by the colour warning and comes into contact with the lubber, the lubber will secrete a foam from its thorax that creates a chemical mist around the insect. A bad odour and a hissing noise accompany this chemical mist. If that does not deter the predator, the lubber regurgitates a toxin-rich liquid made from recently-eaten plant material that contains noxious chemicals. In this way, the insect recycles the noxious chemicals it ingests to protect itself from being ingested. This regurgitate is called "tobacco spit" and can stain clothing. The loggerhead shrike is one bird that has learned to eat the lubber. It impales the grasshopper and lets it sit for a few days. The toxins dissipate leaving the grasshopper edible.
Primary subject: Tree bark with lichens
Substrate: Mature tree bark (deeply fissured, likely hardwood species)
Lichens present: Mixed community
Foliose lichen (leaf-like, green patches)
Crustose lichen (thin, tightly attached gray-green film)
Most likely genera (visual match, not species-level certain):
Foliose: Physcia, Parmelia, or similar bark lichens
Crustose: multiple possible genera (very difficult to resolve without microscopy)
Confidence:
Lichen type (foliose + crustose): high (~95%)
Genus/species: low (~30–40%) due to lack of microscopic detail
Description
The bark shows irregular, blocky plates with deep fissures, typical of older trees.
The green growth occurs along moisture-retaining cracks, where lichens establish more easily.
The brighter green patches are foliose lichens, with small lobes lifting slightly off the bark.
The flatter gray-green areas are crustose lichens, appearing almost painted onto the surface.
Biological context:
Lichens are symbiotic organisms (fungus + algae)
They absorb water and nutrients directly from air and rain, not from the tree
Growth is very slow (mm/year) and indicates relatively stable conditions
Ecological notes
Presence of lichens generally indicates reasonable air quality
They do not harm the tree—they are surface colonizers only
Mixed lichen communities often reflect microclimate variation (moisture, light, bark chemistry)
Similar / look-alikes
Algae (green film): smoother, lacks structure → not the case here
Moss (Bryophyta): forms soft cushions with visible stems/leaves → absent here
Fungal growth: usually darker, less structured, often associated with decay
Karvane nahkis + vööt-tagel + pruun kõhrik.
Karvanahakka + pinovyökääpä + liuskahytykkä.
Substrate: Betula.
Rehessaare, Kõrvemaa.
Substrate: Quercus robur.
Eesti punase nimestiku liik, äärmiselt ohustatud (CR). LK II.
Rakvere, Lääne-Virumaa.
ancient bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva, California, Patriarch Grove, White Mountains, Fishlake Valley drainage, elevation 3469 m (11380 ft). Substrate is carbonate (dolomite).
This species is found only at high elevations of dry, isolated, sky-island mountain ranges in the Great Basin of western North America, usually with a preference for nutrient-poor carbonate soils and outcrops, like at this location. Besides reducing competition and available fuel for fires, these severe conditions force very slow growth rates that result in dense, resinous, disease-resistant and highly durable wood.
Currently the oldest living individuals are known from here in the White Mountains of eastern California, where the oldest was reported to be 5062 years old as of 2012. Over this much time, roots become exposed by slow natural erosion, even in this relatively dry cold desert environment, and many branches die, resulting in the picturesque forms of many older trees.
Even after death, standing and fallen wood lasts for thousands of years more, and has helped to reconstruct an unbroken tree ring record of climatic variation going back over 9,000 years. This is long enough that the wood of ancient bristlecone pines has been used to help calibrate the Carbon-14 dating process.
Image from Kodachrome-64 color transparency film exposed with an Olympus OM-4T and Tamron 28-70mm zoom-macro lens. Scanned at 4000 dpi with a Nikon Coolscan 5000, and restored using Corel Paintshop Pro X4.
A pale individual, blending nicely with the Carrizo Plains substrate. Elkhorn Plain, Carrizo Plains National Monument, San Luis Obispo County, CA.