huge outer space bug
Location: Austin Texas at Lake Travis
July 23, 2010 12:11 pm
I need help… while camping in Texas we came across this huge grass hopper type bug with packs on it’s back, weird mouth, legs and everything else…. I just got to find out…
Bug Quest
Dear Bug Quest,
This Greater Arid Land Katydid, Neobarrettia spinosa, is in the same order as a Grasshopper, Orthoptera, but then their taxonomies diverge. Katydids are Long Horned Orthopterans in the suborder Ensifera and the family Tettigoniidae. The Spiny Predatory Katydids in the genus Neobarrettia are “voraciously omnivorous” according to BugGuide, which also indicates: “When approached, said to sometimes threaten and attack, may bite and draw blood.” We are rather fond of the less commonly used but colorfully descriptive name Red Eyed Devil.