Pinkish Bush Katydid in Ventura

Subject:  Leaflike grasshopper
Geographic location of the bug:  Ventura, California
Date: 11/16/2019
Time: 07:15 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Bugman,
I’ve noticed this grasshopper in my yard in several places lately. First he was stuck in my house and I caught him and took him outside. Today I got a great shot of him on the plumeria tree. His body looks so much like a leaf! Do you know what his name is?
How you want your letter signed:  Tonja…we met at a party in Ventura!

Dear Tonja,
We were talking on the phone this evening with Melanie on the Irish Chain and we commented that we hadn’t posted to WTB? recently because we are so busy.  This pinkish Katydid is awesome looking.  Most Katydids are green in color, and occasionally individuals from some normally green species are vividly pink, and some are more subtly pink. We believe your individual is a Broad-Winged Katydid, Microcentrum rhombifolium, which we located on the Natural History of Orange County site, or perhaps the closely related California Angle-Winged Katydid, Microcentrum californicum, which we located on BugGuide.  We have not had any luck locating any unusual color variants of either species.  We will attempt to contact Piotr Naskrecki for species confirmation. We find it closer visually to the Plumeria buds rather than its leaves, and with the unusual coloration of your individual, we would go so far as to say it is almost camouflaged among the buds.