Unknown Green Thing from Hawaii is a Katydid

bugman

January 31st, 2011 at 9:30 am

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Green Insect Found On Oahu
Location: Honolulu, HI
January 31, 2011 1:48 am
Hi, I found this insect on a hike in Manoa this weekend. Do you know what it is? It was on a tree near a river.
Signature: EMC

Unknown Green Thing

Dear EMC,
Do you have a photo with more depth of field that shows some of the physical characteristics of this creature, like its head? It appears from your photo that the creature keeps its back two pairs of legs together, but we cannot make out what is going on with the front legs. Perhaps one of our readers will recognize this creature, which we believe might be some Orthopteran, the order that included crickets and katydids. Since we cannot make out any wings, we believe this may be an immature specimen.

Daniel-
Thank for your reply. I was thinking a form of leaf insect too, but then I was thinking that it had characteristics of a net casing spider also. This was the only photo that I was able to get of it.
Thank you for your help.
EMC

Update courtesy of Karl
Hi Daniel and EMC:
I believe you are correct Daniel in suggesting that this is a katydid (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). I was able to find only one similar image on a site by Collin Miller (scroll down four images). Unfortunately creature is not identified beyond family but, although the photo is a little fuzzy, it does show what is going on with the front legs. It probably is a juvenile so a more precise identification will likely require some expertise or a lot of research. Regards. Karl