Strange Cricket ID
September 23, 2009
Found this cricket (?) in our barn here in Olympia, WA, this evening. It doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before. I was by itself in the corner of our barn. I’ve had it i a jar for an hour and no sounds have come from it but it jumps like a son of a gun. It has very long antennae and a tail of sorts.
Sincerely, Cynthe Slaybaugh
Olympia, WA

Sierra Shieldback Katydid

Hi Cynthe,
We believe you have found a Sierra Shieldback Katydid in the genus Neduba.  We are linking to a BugGuide page with a nice image from Oregon that originated as a submission to our own website several years ago.

Sierra Shieldback Katydid

Awesome!  Thank you!  Here are a couple more pics.  We let her go this morning.

Sierra Shieldback Katydid

Thanks for sending in additional photos of a higher quality.

Sierra Shieldback Katydid

Is this a grasshopper?
September 14, 2009
This bug has been hanging out with me for a while now. First it was on my front porch hanging out on the hibiscus and just the other day it was in my room. I put it outside many times and it always comes back. Now I just let it hang out in my room and it just stays sitting in the same spots.
Malia
Virginia Beach, VA

Greater Meadow Katydid

Hi Malia,
Grasshoppers have much shorter antennae than this Greater Meadow Katydid does.  We believe the species is Orchelimum minor, based on images posted to BugGuide.  The red eyes and green face are quite distinctive.  Your individual is a female as evidenced by her sword-like ovipositor, and she is missing one leg, which may have happened because of a run-in with a predator.

Green Bug!! aka: Possible, preveiously unseen phasmid/timema found in the southern St Croix River Valley just outside the Twin Cities
August 11, 2009
Now I could be totally wrong on all this because I really don’t practice entomology, but it’s been one of those random moments that makes me realize I probably should. Oh, and I also feel I should mention that I’ve seen more fireflies and random small hunting-spiders this year than any year in the past few that I can recall. It could mean nothing, it could mean everything…. {Disregard}
So I caught this random bug last night. It looked like a green grasshopper at first glance, so the first thing I thought was “What’s a grasshopper doing out flying at night?” I looked closer and noticed the long antennae and hind legs.
I looked it up as best I could through Google and ended up here after turning up nothing on Wikipedia and found the closest visual match to be the green timema pictures on this site, however my specimen has transparent/green wings that folded up across its back much like a native green grasshopper.
I let that one go outside last night, then saw another identical bug this morning, only this time, I got pictures and a better view of it.
Took these pictures with my phone so the resolution isn’t the best, but all of the legs have sparse red bristles on them, and the feet of it appear to be a small hook-like structure. They cling easily to most surfaces, even glass so I’m guessing it’s like a house-fly’s feet.
That’s about all the info I have to offer aside from pictures. Hope this is some good material for you guys. If I see another one of these, I’ll catch it and keep it until I hear back from you just in case it’s something important.
Kudos!
Erik C Larsen, mad scientist
William O’Brien State Park, Marine on St Croix, Minnesota, North America

Fork-Tailed Bush Katydid

Dear Erik,
Your letter is so entertaining.  This is not a Timema.  It is a Scudder’s Bush Katydid in the genus Scudderia, probably Scudderia furcata, the Fork-Tailed Bush Katydid.  It is a male specimen as evidenced by its unique forked subgenital plate.  You may read more on the genus page on BugGuide.

Correction from Eric Eaton
August 18, 2009
Daniel:
Ok, here are all the identifications:
Also, the “fork-tailed bush katydid” from Minnesota, dated August 11, is actually a male “northern bush katydid,” Scudderia septetrionalis, the only species without a supra-anal plate over the curving subgenital plate (I know, I know that makes perfect sense if you are an entomologist….:-).
Keep up the great work!
Eric

What is this insect?
July 28, 2009
I took this photo at Poring Hot Springs in Sabah, Borneo. It was about 15 cm long, at least half of that being the antennae.
Susan
Borneo

Unknown Katydid from Borneo

Hi Susan,
When it comes to tropical insects, identification for us is often a c%#p-shoot.  With that said, we are relatively certain that this is an Orthopteran, and more specifically, one of the Long Horned Orthopterans in the suborder Ensifera, and probably one of the Katydids in the family Tettigoniidae.  We would like a second opinion on that and perhaps one of our readers will be able to come up with a genus and species.  Karl, are you busy?

Hi Daniel:
Not unexpectedly, Borneo is blessed with an impressive diversity of katydids (Tettigoniidae), most of them poorly documented on the internet. My hunch is that Susan’s bug is in the genus Pseudophyllus which has many of the right characteristics (large size, green color and, at least sometimes, dorsovdentral compression). Most species also have the shoulder spots evident in Susan’s photo, although I couldn’t find any images that looked quite right. It is a relatively small genus with at least three representatives on Borneo (P. dyaka, P. colosseus and P. hercules). Nothing else I found came close, but if I find the time I may try to look again. Regards.
Karl

Update
July 29, 2009
Wow, thanks! Well, i’m thrilled about that because that’s what I thought it was but a naturalist friend of mine said it couldn’t possibly be a katydid. It’s always so gratifying to be vindicated. LOL! BTW, did this go up on the blog? Don’t you think he’s beautiful? Anyway, I’ll look forward to the other opinions, too.
Thanks again, Daniel.
Susan

Mystery Bug with Tiny Wings!
Tue, May 5, 2009 at 1:27 PM
I’ve been meaning to write this letter for a long time! I have to apologize, because I’m sure this bug is “out of season” (?) right now. We found this little guy climbing on one of our baby willow trees on August 19, 2008. He looks to me like a kind of grasshopper, but I bet you’ll tell me I’m wrong! I was slightly perplexed by his tiny wings in proportion to his large body, which was a little smaller than my thumb (around 1.5-2 inches maybe?). I apologize for not grabbing a ruler or something… I’m kind of embarassed to say I was concentrating on being artistic, haha. If you could give me any insight into who this little guy is, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much!
Sincerely, Jess K.
Northeast Ohio

Greater Angle-Wing Katydid

Dear Jess,
This is a Katydid and it is immature as indicated by its still developing wings. We are relatively certain it is a Greater Angle-Wing Katydid, Microcentrum rhombifolium , as evidenced by an image posted to BugGuide. We will be traveling to Youngstown in about a month to visit family.

Wow, I never would have guessed a katydid… but I guess I’ve never really seen one until then, either, haha. Thanks for your help, and best wishes for your safe travels to Ohio!