Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus)
This grasshopper (a female) landed on John’s jeans.
ID courtesy of BugGuide.net.
The “architecture” of these grasshoppers is amazing.
We didn’t see very much damage from their munching, but unless I have just one specimen of a special plant, I don’t focus on individual plants anyway. One advantage of having less lawn and more plants is that no one plant is as important as the whole habitat in general.
Rattler round-winged katydid
Though it was hard to miss as it sat on the house siding near our back door (note size of finger pointing to it), it would be pretty well-camoflaged if it were sitting on a plant since its wings are very leaf-life.
Oblong-winged katydid (Amblycorypha oblongifolia)
It’s generally considered by gardeners to be a “bad” bug since it eats leaves, but when I searched the internet, most people seemed to also indicate that it didn’t do a lot of damage and that it was a source of food for birds.
Do we have to eliminate everything that does a little leaf damage? I’m glad we have so many plants that I’d never think to inspect each leaf for perfection…
Besides, it’s the source of some of the evening sounds that make summer sound like summer. In any case, a fascinating creature.
Black-horned tree cricket female (Oecanthus nigricornis)
I ID’d this through BugGuide.
Brown swordtail cricket / Brown trigs (Anaxipha)
This is the kind of cricket that inevitably finds its way into the house — usually in the bathroom with its good acoustics — and serenades us with a incessant chirping.
I’m getting better at locating it (though it’s harder than it sounds), catching it in a small plastic container and putting it back outside, where I can enjoy its joyful sound at a distance.
Note the exceptionally long antennae.