Saw this today on my front porch.
That is a fantastic picture! 👍 Very rewarding on DL. It's a small meadow katydid. Male. Males have a small specialized area on their wings, which you can see up top, and they 'chirp' with that area to produce a distinctive chittery song that is hard to describe. But you will hear them day and night, especially in the tall grasses. Females have a long sword-like ovipositor for laying eggs. The species where I am is similar, but it has short wings.
Nice focus and composition.
Thanks Mark for correctly ID'ing this. I really should have known because all crickets I've seen are dark in color.
JRiepe wrote:
Thanks Mark for correctly ID'ing this. I really should have known because all crickets I've seen are dark in color.
Honestly, it is hard to tell crickets apart from katydids. There are green crickets (the lovely and delicate tree crickets. The cheerful chirping you hear in trees and bushes are likely those). Then there are katydids that look like ground-hugging crickets. The famous 'Mormon cricket' is a great example of one of those.
A beautiful shot, I am always excited to see one of these and they are so photogenic.
I do thank all of you for looking and commenting and Mark you must really study insects. The info you provide is interesting.
Very, very well done with spot-on focus and highly detailed.
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