Thursday, September 05, 2013

Green, Leaf-shaped Grasshopper

We found this handsome chappie in our back yard the other night and he held still for me while I fried his retinas with macro, flash photos. The poor thing has a confused look on his face as if to say, "Why do you keep doing that flashy thing to me?" My favorite part is the leaf-texturing along his sides. He's not just leaf-colored, he's leaf-shaded. Well done, sir!

I left the photos large so they might be worth a click. I'm hoping Tim could do a quick ID here. I started to peruse the bug guide, but ran out of time.


11 comments:

tim eisele said...

You're right, that is more colorful than my grasshopper nymphs.

Nice katydid. It looks like one of the angle-wings in the genus Microcentrum. Given your location, and the dark eyes, I think the most likely is probably the Southwestern Angle-Wing, Microcentrum latifrons. This would be a good one for you to submit to BugGuide, because if it is the Southwestern Angle-Wing, you would double the number of pictures of this species that they have (and it would be the first pictures from California). This would also be a good way to be more sure of the ID, because I could easily be mistaken.

K T Cat said...

Thanks, Tim! I'll be happy to send this along to the Bug Guide folks.

Anonymous said...

Those things are all over my house right now.

Anonymous said...

I found one on my back porch about a half hour ago. It was making screeching noise. I caught it in a cup and put in a small cage with a water dish. I want to keep it until Monday so my granddaughter can give it a name and than let it go. What do they eat so I can keep it alive.

Anonymous said...

might be too late now, but they easy plant leaves, bark, and flowers.

The Sage Book Whisperer said...

Posting again_I don't think it went through. What is the difference between a Katydid & a Stink Bug. I know they are in different Orders_but they sure look alike.

Neil said...

I had one on top of my doghouse, just outside my door, several nights ago, thought it was a leaf.

Unknown said...

I have one in my house right now. Live in Northern Vermont base of Mount Mansfield.

Anonymous said...

I have one in SE Missouri. What is the bug guide? Thanks

K T Cat said...

Here's the Bug Guide - https://bugguide.net/node/view/3

Anonymous said...

I also found on I California a few years ago.