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Katydid Costa Rica
Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 9:50 PM
Hi, again! I love this site! Here are two pictures of what looks to me like a katydid. It resembles the Panama Sylvan katydid – Acanthodis curvidens that is shown on this site, but the coloration is quite different. I assume mine is a female. It was sitting on the side of a concrete block used to surround some gardening stuff. It sat very still for the photos and is about 3-4 inches long. Perhaps the genius at Harvard who identified the other katydids can have a go at this one?
Mary Thorman (Pura Vida Photos)
south western Costa Rican highlands

Katydid from Costa Rica

Hi Mary,
We have contacted Piotr Naskrecki and we hope he will be able to provide you with a species identification of this awesome looking Katydid from Costa Rica.

Katydid from Costa Rica

Hi Daniel,
This is Haemodiasma tessellata, a gorgeous moss mimic, often found in mid-
to high elevation forests. They sometimes fly to light at night, which may
explain finding it around the house. I would be curious to know where and
when the pictures were taken.
Cheers,
Piotr

Update: December 26, 2008
Hi, Daniel!
Please tell Piotr that a found the moss mimic katydid two weeks ago.  I live in a rural/wooded area of Costa Rica at about 1200 meters.  It is on the Pacific slopes of the Talamanca Mountain range in southern Costa Rica.  I have two hectares of secondary highland forest (with a corridor of primary forest near a stream on the property).  I also raise organic fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants.  I found the katydid just sitting on a concrete block near my house one morning as I was putting bananas and other fruits on a bamboo feeding platform near my bedroom window.
What does tesselata mean?  I also raise a type of live bearing cockroach called Archimandrita tesselata.  Wish I’d known bugs were so fascinating when I was young enough to study entomology more thoroughly than I did for basic biology classes.  I wound up becoming a professional field gerontologist instead.  But I was an insect collector for the Smithsonian when I lived in Florida where I also raised various insects just to watch them, do some non traumatic experiments, and learn about them.  I even wrote some tongue-in-cheek articles about the joys of raising various insects for several newspapers.
Now that I’m retired I enjoy combining my interest in living things with my hobby of photography.  There is always something new.
If you know of anyone who would like a place to stay near the Wilson Botanical Gardens and Organization for Tropical Studies research center near me while they do field studies, please tell them I have a very nice guest room available.  It would be fun to have a guest who is interested in biology.
Sincerely,
Mary (Chiki) Thorman
Linda Vista de San Vito
Puntarenas
Costa Rica

Related Posts

1. Unknown Katydid from Costa Rica is Pitbull Katydid (March 22, 2008)
2. Katydid from Costa Rica: maybe Aegimia elongata (February 14, 2007)
3. Moss Mimic Walkingstick from Costa Rica: probably Trychopeplus laciniatus (August 5, 2008)
4. Flannel Moth from Costa Rica (November 18, 2008)
5. Katydid in French Guyana (January 27, 2009)