What kind of bug is this?
Hello Bugman!
Me and my family went on vacation to the mountains this weekend. The kids found this beautiful specimen while playing in the backyard. I was wondering if you could identify it for us (and maybe point us to more pictures of the same species in the Internet). We live in the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean. This bug was found at 4,000 feet high playing in the grass among the pine trees. Is the color red normal from this area? Is the back horn used to sting? Is this a male or female variety? Where can we find more pics and info on this bug? Cheers,
Alberich

hi Alberich,
We are going to start guessing here. We know that this is a member of the order Orthoptera that contains crickets, grasshoppers and katydids. We believe it is in the suborder Ensifera, the Longhorned Orthopterans. It might be a Shield Backed Katydid in the subfamily Tettigoniinae, or a Spiny Predatory Katydid in the subfamily Subfamily Listroscelidinae, or perhaps some other group found in the tropics but not in the U.S.A. She is a female, as evidenced by her long, swordlike ovipositor. At any rate, she is magnificent. Often it is difficult to get a positive identification on tropical species because of limited information available online. We will post your photo and hopefully get an answer.

Update: (07/03/2008) Katydid IDs from Piotr Naskrecki
Hi,
I have been looking at the page with unidentified katydids (Katydids 2), and thought I could help with some ID’s. From top to bottom they are: Dominican Republic Polyancistrine – Polyancistrus loripes

pink insect
Hi,
Can you identify this insect? I found it in Plaquemines parish in southeastern Louisiana. The color amazed me, I promise I didn’t adjust the color on the photo!
Ann

Hi Ann,
This is a Katydid Nymph. We cannot tell you the exact species, but perhaps one of our readers can. There are several species of Katydids that are normally green to blend in with foliage that they eat. Occasionally there are pink sports like yours. Perhaps this is so they would blend in while eating pink flowers.

Update: 907/03/2008) Katydid IDs from Piotr Naskrecki
Hi,
I have been looking at the page with unidentified katydids (Katydids 2), and thought I could help with some ID’s. From top to bottom they are: Amblycorypha sp. (pink nymph)

Winged Weta?
Hi
I have previously sent you an email regarding this lovely animal. I was in tears as I took the photos (having sprayed it to keep it immobile while I photographed it – sorry). It appears identical to a Weta that you have posted, except that this one has very large wings! Isn’t a “winged Weta” a contradiction in terms? Hope you can help to identify this lovely animal. She was beautiful. Note: It was found on the fringe of the arid lands in South Australia (300 Kilometres North of Adelaide).
Les Clayton

Hi Les,
We hope your tears are an indication that you will not be killing creatures in the future just to photograph them. This is not a Weta. The long ovipositor indicates the specimen is a female. It is a longhorned Orthopteran in the suborder Ensifera, and probably a Katydid in the family Tettigoniidae, but we have not had any luck identifying the species. The Geocities site did not provide any convincing matches. It appears as though the antennae on your specimen have been damaged, either through rough living, or traumatic dying, or possibly post mortem. Grev and Trevor frequently assist us with Australian species, and they may have better luck than we have had with a species identification on this striking specimen.

Found in Borneo, Malaysia near Sandakar
Hi, I have had these 3 pictures for about two years now and always wanted to identify them but with no success. Having come across your website I wondered if you can tell me what they are apart from a spider, grasshopper and a beatle

We haven’t had much luck identifying your photos. The Unknown Grasshopper is quite stunning but it is not a Grasshopper. It is a Longhorned Orthopteran in the suborder Ensifera, and probably a Katydid in the family Tettigoniidae. The beetle is a Cerambycid and the spider is probably the genus Argiope. Perhaps one of our readers will recognize your Katydid and write in with an answer.

Update: (03/25/2008)
Hi Daniel: Regarding the Unknown Orthopteran from Borneo (03/22/2008), I found this photo online that looks like your mystery “grasshopper”. It looks like a Trachyzulpha katydid (Trachyzulpha fruhstorferi). Regards
Karl

Re: Raspy cricket from Australia
Hi Bugman,
When I first saw the image submitted of the ‘raspy cricket’ from Australia, I thought it was a moss mimicking katydid. It’s fascinating how similar they are in appearance. I had submitted my photo to your site, and did receive an e-mail reply, but apparently my image was not sufficient for an ID. I did manage to eventually get it identified:
This a nymph of Championica montana Saussure & Pictet, 1898 (Pseudophyllinae, Pleminiini), a gorgeous moss mimicking katydid, common in Mesoamerica. I never managed to record its call, but its close relative, C. cristulata, has a very bird-like, frequency modulated call, very unusual for New World Tettigoniidae. Cheers,
Piotr
Piotr Naskrecki, Ph. D.
Director, Invertebrate Diversity Initiative
Conservation International

Dear Nancy or Piotr,
We are sorry we failed in the original identification of this Moss Mimicking Katydid. We recall these images, but it seems we never posted them to our site. When we are very busy, sometimes we don’t have time to post everything we want to post or should post. Please provide us with some background. When and where was the photo taken? Was it photographed in Nicaragua in 2005 as the name of the digital file implies? Also, was this letter submitted by Nancy and is Piotr the expert who identified it? Is there a good link with information on the species?

Hi Daniel,
Yes, the katydid was photographed at Selva Negra, Nicaragua in 2005. I have copied the entire e-mail chain for you as it gives everyone’s titles as well as a few sites. Hope this info is helpful to your site. p.s. I just bought a camera with Macro capability and am headed back to Selva Negra in January. I’m going to check out that huge boulder again
Nancy Collins, Wisconsis

Editor’s Note: Here is Nancy’s original email (that was sent to several knowledgeable experts as well as to What’s That Bug?) and responses she received.
(08/28/2007) Greetings,
Is there any advice you can give me on how to find the name of this insect? I encountered it in Nicaragua. It was about 6 inches long, and was very flat. The hind legs were flat against the rock. It was sharing a huge boulder with hundreds of spiders. Thank you for your time,
Nancy Collins, Wisconsin

Tom – what do you say about this critter?
Lyle Buss
Insect Identification Laboratory
Entomology & Nematology Dept.
University of Florida

Flat Nicaraguan Katydid
Piotr,
Can you identify this beast? The best I could do was to suspect it was a Pseudophylline.
Thomas J. Walker
Department of Entomology & Nematology
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Dear Tom,
This a nymph of Championica montana Saussure & Pictet, 1898 (Pseudophyllinae, Pleminiini), a gorgeous moss mimicking katydid, common in Mesoamerica. I never managed to record its call, but its close relative, C. cristulata, has a very bird-like, frequency modulated call, very unusual for New World Tettigoniidae. Cheers,
Piotr Naskrecki, Ph. D. Director, Invertebrate Diversity Initiative
Conservation International
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Hi Nancy,
Thanks for providing us with this wonderful identification chain and also for resending your photos to us despite us failing to provide you with and identification. As your email chain indicates, even qualified experts had difficulty with the exact identification. Identification of many rain forest species is nearly impossible without the help of specialists.