Rainbow grasshopper

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Rainbow grasshopper

August 6, 2013 by Mike Powell

Let me introduce you to the coolest-looking insect I have ever encountered, the Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), an insect that I photographed this past weekend at my local marsh. The name just seems to fit the insect perfectly, unlike so many other insects that seem to have been named almost randomly.

I still recall the first time that I encountered a Handsome Meadow Katydid last summer and the resulting double take—I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. The bright colors of the body were astonishing and seemed so unreal that one of my friends wondered if I had colorized the photo.

It’s the eyes, though, that make this insect so attractive for me. There is just something so alluring about those blue eyes, eyes that I don’t expect to see in an insect.

I got some pretty good shots of Handsome Meadow Katydids last year, but was growing concerned that I would not see many this year (you can tell it’s a katydid, in part, because of the length of the antennae). I actually heard this katydid before I saw it. I was passing by a small bush and hear a kind of vibrating sound. I put my ear closer and closer to the plant and finally spotted the source.

I had to go pretty wide in cropping the shot, because the katydid was stretched out along the small branch. Click on the image if you want see a higher resolution view of the photo, including those amazing eyes.

Posted in Art, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged blue eyes, Canon 50D, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Huntley Meadows Park, katydid, neon-colored grasshopper, Orchelimum pulchellum, rainbow grasshopper, Tamron 180mm macro | 16 Comments

16 Responses

on August 6, 2013 at 6:05 am | Reply perceptionunlimited

What a beauty!
- on August 6, 2013 at 6:09 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. They are truly remarkable insects to see.
on August 6, 2013 at 6:47 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

That’s amazing. I’m pretty sure I’d remember seeing one of these!
on August 6, 2013 at 1:32 pm | Reply lylekrahn

Those colours are hard to believe.
on August 6, 2013 at 2:42 pm | Reply Sue

Yeah, those blue eyes really make it for me!
on August 6, 2013 at 8:40 pm | Reply Bill

Amazing colors. I had no idea they could be so colorful.
- on August 7, 2013 at 5:04 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  The colors actually are that vivid in real life–truly amazing.
on August 7, 2013 at 7:12 am | Reply Ed

Truely handsome, excellent macro..:-)
- on August 7, 2013 at 7:45 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Ed. It really is my favorite insect.
on August 28, 2013 at 9:27 pm | Reply Green Katydid on the Road | NaturalistNotebook

[…] Rainbow grasshopper (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com) […]
on December 15, 2013 at 4:22 pm | Reply One of my photos “published” | Mike Powell

[…] It is pretty cool that a website (cracked.com) chose to use one of my photos in an article entitled “6 Insanely Colored Versions of Normally Boring Animals.” It is this photo that I took during the summer of my favorite insect, the Handsome Meadow Katydid and I featured in a posting called Rainbow Grasshopper. […]
on November 15, 2014 at 6:52 am | Reply Short-winged Meadow Katydid | Mike Powell

[…] katydid’s colors are drab by comparison. (Check out one of my previous blog postings called Rainbow Grasshopper to see my favorite […]
on November 15, 2014 at 4:21 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

Stunning Mike. I can see why this is your favourite! Amazing detail… I can even see the little hairs on its long legs!
- on November 15, 2014 at 5:53 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Every time I see one of these, I am shocked at its vibrant colors–they seem almost unnatural.
on October 22, 2018 at 7:07 am | Reply Bluebird and katydid | Mike Powell

[…] of a Handsome Meadow Katydid from a posting that I did in August 2013 that was entitled “Rainbow grasshopper.” Check out my thoughts and feelings in that post about one of my initial encounters with […]
on September 10, 2019 at 7:38 am | Reply My favorite insect? | Mike Powell

[…] colors of a Handsome Meadow Katydid on full display, check out a 2013 posting that I entitled Rainbow Grasshopper—it is one of my most popular posts to date with over 315 […]