What’s this bug/Cricket/Cicada?
Location: Collias, Gard, France
August 11, 2011 5:36 am
Please could you help identify the attached bug?
We photographed it last week in the Gard, in the South of France on a hot day (30C-ish). It was sitting amongst some long grass at the base of an olive tree and was making NO sound at all.
Signature: Steph
Bushcricket
Hi Steph,
This is a male Shieldback Katydid in the genus Ephippiger, and they are commonly called Bushcrickets, but we are not certain if that is a translation from the French.
¶ Posted 11 August 2011 § ‡ ° Grasshopper
Location: North America, Minnesota
August 9, 2011 12:13 am
I am wondering what this lil critter is! Found him on my car about half way to my destination, he was on my windshield an I am glad he didn’t fly off so i could snap a pic!
Signature: Rye-Guy
Common Conehead
Dear Rye-Guy,
Your Katydid is known as a Common Conehead in the genus Neocolocephalus, and BugGuide has this to say about its feeding habits: “Adults feed mostly on seeds of grasses, sometimes sedges. Nymphs feed on grass flowers, developing seeds.” BugGuide also notes that it may bite if handled, but it is worth mentioning that this is not a venomous species and it is most likely that the bite will not even draw blood.
¶ Posted 10 August 2011 § ‡ ° What is this bug?
Location: London Ontario
August 6, 2011 9:59 am
This was attracted to our back-porch light around midnight last night. I think it was eating other small bugs. I don’t think it’s a lacewing. It was about 2” in total length. Sort of looks like a grass hopper. It rubbed it’s 2 inner wings together every once in a while, making a chirping sound.
Signature: Joe
Treetop Bush Katydid
Dear Joe,
This is a Katydid, and they can be differentiated from Grasshoppers by their antennae. Grasshoppers have much shorter antennae, and Katydids are classifies as Longhorned Orthopterans in the suborder Ensifera. We believe this is a male Treetop Bush Katydid, Scudderia fasciata, based on this particular image posted to BugGuide.
¶ Posted 06 August 2011 § ‡ ° What species of Anabrus?
Location: Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado
August 5, 2011 3:53 pm
I caught this specimen in 2005. Only knew it as a ”Mormon cricket.” However, I know it’s an Anabrus sp.. However, I find on bug guide that A. simplex is found on the E slope of Colorado. This specimen was caught in Dinosaur National Monument on my way to field work there.
I’m thinking it’s not A. simplex because of the sheer size (my thumb is about 2” long) and dark carapace.
Thanks!!
Signature: Fish Seal
Mormon Cricket, we presume
Dear Fish Seal,
We would not attempt to conclusively identify this Shieldbacked Katydid beyond the genus level of Anabrus, however, if you did not express such specificity in your letter, we would have been perfectly comfortable identifying it as a Mormon Cricket, Anabrus simplex. It is a nearly identical visual match to this individual, also a female from Colorado, that is posted to BugGuide.
Thank you. I had checked BugGuide, but I did not see that photograph. I would have to concur that it is indeed A. simplex. Thank you so much for all you do!!
¶ Posted 05 August 2011 § ‡ ° Big Bug in Kruger
Location: Letaba Rest Camp, Kruger National Park, South Africa
July 28, 2011 4:09 pm
Hi there Bugman,
What’s this bug? One of the most fascinating creatures I’ve ever captured on film. We met on mondaymorning May 29 back in 2006 in Kruger National Park. Would like to know his name.
Thanks in advance!
Tom from The Netherlands
Koringkriek
Hi Tom,
This is a Longhorned Orthopteran, Eugaster longipes, and it is called a Koringkriek. We posted a photo back in 2009 when we did all the original research. The Wilkinson’s World Blog calls it an Armored Ground Cricket. The Encyclopedia of Life website classifies it as a Katydid in the family Tettigoni1dae, and we would surmise that it is also a Shield Backed Katydid in the subfamily Tettigoniinae.
Koringkriek
¶ Posted 31 July 2011 § ‡ ° Green Bug
Location: FL
July 24, 2011 3:49 pm
I moved to FL not too long ago and saw this green bug. Nobody I’ve talked to knows what it is. Do you?
Signature: Patti
Conehead
Hi Patti,
This Katydid is commonly called a Conehead. We believe it is an immature nymph as it does not have wings. We will contact Katydid expert Piotr Naskrecki to see if he can provide a species identification.
Piotr Naskrecki provides an ID
Hi Daniel,
This is a male of Belocephalus, possibly B. davisi, but impossible to say for sure without examining its genitalia and the stridulatory apparatus (there are 13 very similar species in the genus).
Cheers,
Piotr
¶ Posted 25 July 2011 § ‡ ° 4″ green bug
July 13, 2011
Location: Jacksboro, TX
Can you please tell me what kind of bug this is? It was found in Jacksboro, TX.
Sherri C
Greater Arid-Land Katydid
The Greater Arid-Land Katydid is also called a Red Eyed Devil. It is a predatory Katydid and your individual is a male.
¶ Posted 17 July 2011 § ‡ ° Two buddies on my Coyote Mint
Location: Mission District, San Francisco
July 13, 2011 3:56 pm
Dear Bugman – Just noticed these two brothers (Cousins?) sitting on my Coyote Mint and wondered whether I should be worried, indifferent, or happy.
Signature: SF Gardener
Bush Katydid Nymphs
Dear SF Gardener,
These are immature Bush Katydids. Immature Katydids, like the early stages of many insects, are called nymphs. Though they are plant eaters, we allow Katydids to live in our garden and feed off the leaves of plants. They do some cosmetic damage but they never defoliate the plants.
Hi Daniel -
Thanks for the info. I’d traced them to the Opthera order, but didn’t recognize them among crickets and grasshoppers. I will let them be, as you say.
This is my garden’s second year and I’m getting the hang of it and seeing some new things: aphids severely damaging my lupines, and powdery mildew on my snowberries. Trying to recognize the birds and butterflies and bugs as part of all this.
Best,
John
¶ Posted 14 July 2011 § ‡ ° 
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