Subject: scary hybrid looking bug
Location: Western Oklahoma USA
August 18, 2014 5:57 pm
My assistant found this bug in her dog’s water dish.
Signature: Beth Tones
Hi Beth,
This “thing” looks Orthopteran, like a Grasshopper, however it is missing its jumping legs. Though it is somewhat realistic, it does not look like any species of Grasshopper we are familiar with, and we are entertaining the possibility that it is a lifelike fishing lure not unlike the many examples pictured on the Realistic Fishing Lures and Fly Tying page of Graham Owen’s Gallery.
That looks like a female grasshopper who’s abdomen relaxed and extended to it’s full length after death- they can extend it in order to lay eggs deep underground. I know this because female grasshoppers take on that exact appearance when cooked- including turning pink like a lobster. Presumably she drowned and turned pink in the hot sun.
Thank you for offering that very plausible explanation.
Here’s a diagram:
http://iweb.tntech.edu/mcaprio/fem_lay_eggs.jpg
Here’s a diagram:
http://iweb.tntech.edu/mcaprio/fem_lay_eggs.jpg