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“patchwork” colorful grasshopper
July 31, 2009
Please please forgive the poor photos–I only had my cellphone camera and couldn’t see the screen, etc. Mid-afternoon, in bunch grasses, July 30. Any idea what it might be? Thanks!
Michael (needs a better cellphone cam)
Santa Fe, NM

Dear Michael,
Remember, you bought a cellphone and not a camera.  You should just buy a camera and forget about constant connectivity.  We believe this is a Painted Grasshopper, Dactylotum bicolor, based on your Impressionistic photograph.  For photographic comparison, we are going to link back to our own site and a previous posting because we are currently unable to link to that awesome website for identifying North American insects and spiders, BugGuide.

Thank you — that’s definitely the fellow I saw. I actually didn’t pick it up because I remembered that rule about bright colors and poison — although it’s probably aimed at predators that eat the fella, now that I think about it. Anyway, thanks.
As soon as I can I’m going to buy a WiMax/cellphone/SLR/HD videocam, as long as it’s no bigger than our hawkmoths (which are pretty big) and costs less than my car (which is 14 years old).
Michael

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