Sunday, August 24, 2008

Bug-eyed

Do I attract interesting bugs or am I just really attuned to them?

No one could help but notice this fellow, seeing as how he was really large and bright green against my living room wall. He was at least three inches long.

He moved quite slowly, too, gingerly stepping one skinny leg at a time up the plaster, and not too concerned about my lens so close. Which was good, since the light was not great and I hate using flash in a situation like this. I didn't want to wash him out, and I was afraid it would frighten him off. I braced the camera against the wall and set it on a long exposure.

Click on any photo to see it larger.
After he meandered around for a bit, I put a plastic cup over him, slid some paper over the top and put him outside on the honeysuckle vine.
Do you know what kind of bug he is? He looks like a leaf-hopper on steroids.

Edit: Answered my own question by image-Googling "big green bug" and poking around a bit. He's a katydid. Sometimes called a long-horned grasshopper but more closely related to crickets. We have quite the chorus of them these days! They're not known to be particularly destructive in gardens, so I'm glad I didn't hurt him.

5 comments:

  1. And he's absolutely fabulous! Great color and light going on there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So that's what those are called...we have oodles up here. The dogs & poultry like to snack on them.

    Now I wished I taken a photo of the large freaky bug, the size of a bloated swallow that kept getting caught in my hair last weekend evening. It was incredible loud, intimidated even the most curious of dawgs, and perched drunken bat-like on an angle of one of my dining chair rails. Without a charged battery for my camera, I finally gave up on working on my web sites and closed the door to my bedroom.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Heh. I took some photos of the same kind of bug on my patio not too long ago. Bugs and spiders fascinate me. Love the green against your wall.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I believe that is called a Katydid

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katydid

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey i just saw your pics. Great close up and love him against the colors!

    I wonder if it was the same little guy I took a month later. If so he's pretty vain - or just likes showing off.

    Good eye! All the best - james...

    ReplyDelete