#orthoptera

Stick grasshoppers in the tribe Proscopiini

Found in Central and South America

my good friend Pycnogaster cucullata - mouse-sized beast, maker of high-pitched hums, and lumberer extraordinaire - very clearly prefers to hang out hidden in dense, spiky bushes like gorse in my experience. this one, though, was wandering around on fennel for some reason, which is the exact opposite of a dense plant, allowing me to get a pretty good look at him

i considered handling him for better photos, and easily could have, but even small katydids are famously bitey so i didn't really feel like testing my luck against something of such hippopotamus-like proportions

Lichen Mimic Katydid (𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘺𝘻𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘩𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪), family Tettigoniidae, Borneo

Freaking CONEHEAD JUST FLEW RIGHT INTO ME

The long-headed toothpick grasshopper (Achurum carinatum) lives and feeds among tall grass in the southeast US.

They’re flightless and not very fast or agile by grasshopper standards, but like a stick insect their camouflage seems to make up for it!

Rare not my photos but I had to talk about this guy because they're one of the most interesting crickets I've seen.

Triaenogryllacris triaena

Is a kind of Gryllacrididae, also known as "Raspy crickets" or "Leaf roller crickets". These crickets are notable because they're one of the few Orthoptera that produce silk, they roll up leaves or debris and line the enclosure with silk produced from glands in their mouth to use as shelter. There are some species of Gryllacrididae native to the US, but this species in particular is found in Colombia. I don't know why he has a red dot on his forehead but that's their natural coloration!

Photo credit: https://flic.kr/p/2nPF2cB

Luis Miguel Constantino Chuaire (1980, uploaded 2022)

More Links: