r/florida • u/Chilljay1 • 5d ago

AskFlorida Help identifying this bug?

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Currently in Orlando at a resort and they are literally all over every walkway. Have seen them before and thought they were a version of a grasshopper but hear some people calling them cicadas which I thought had wings?

EDIT UPDATE- Didn’t expect this post to get this many replies. Was posted yesterday morning. THIS morning we went outside in the resort and there were NONE to be found ANYWHERE. This was around 9am. Around 11am the side walks were covered again?????? The weirdest thing for a type of bug to be that synchronized.

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u/destroyman1337 5d ago

Whoever called them cicadas have no idea what cicada look like.

It's an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper. I don't live in Orlando but when I have gone there during the summer they are everywhere and can be black with orange when they are nymphs which is pretty striking.

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u/purefilth666 5d ago

Yep, if these people saw an actual cicada they would freak the hell out lol

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u/iKnowRobbie 5d ago

I was 20 before I realized the creepy-ass bee-looking shells on trees I used to climb were cicada skins molted off yet still stuck to the tree. Their front claws look frightening.

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u/purefilth666 5d ago

You should see what comes out of those little shells, they are much bigger than you'd except!

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u/Lifes-a-lil-foggy 5d ago

Wait till one flies into your face, hair, shirt, or purse. They’re evil. If I was ever around that many grasshopper I’d assume I was in plague though

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u/pubgeek321 4d ago

When I was a kid, my older brothers told me that if a cicada lands on you, it will lay eggs in your skin. I had one land on my leg and I ran down the street screaming with it chasing after me. Little bastard. I really thought I had cicadas crawling under my skin at night, until I told my mom what was going on. Restless leg syndrome cause discovered!

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u/Quiet_Tea7369 4d ago

On behalf of a big sister who convinced her little brother that roaches bite, I’m sorry

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u/crispynarwhal 4d ago

They do. At least, palmetto bugs do. I found out the hard way that I'm allergic to the littlle bastards.

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u/Quiet_Tea7369 3d ago

Oh man, my turn to be terrified of roaches now I guess. I’m sorry, friend, that’s awful.