Q: A huge black grasshopper settled for a rest on my Japanese maple. Any idea what it is?

A: It’s a lubber grasshopper. Their “skin” varies in color as they grow from nymph to adulthood. Black ones are not unusual. Their wings are so small that they travel by clumsily crawling and making feeble hops: “lubbing” along. They are generalists, feeding happily on crinum lily, poke sallet and vegetable leaves. Hand picking is usually the best control.