Although many summer dragonflies perch high on the vegetation, the autumn species seem to prefer the ground, so I have been spotting all kinds of cool-looking insects as I keep my eyes pointed down in my continuing search for dragonflies (and so far have not run into anything).
Earlier this week, I came across this beautiful grasshopper-like insect. It looks a bit like my all-time favorite insect, the Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum) and has the same long antennae, but this katydid’s colors are drab by comparison. (Check out one of my previous blog postings called Rainbow Grasshopper to see my favorite insect.)
This insect’s wings are pretty short and it looks to have a long ovipositor. As a result, I’ve tentatively concluded that it might be a female Short-winged Meadow Katydid (Conocephalus brevipennis) and have put in a request to the helpful folks at BugGuide for assistance in confirming my identification.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I don’t know the difference between a grasshopper and a katydid but wow, what long legs.
I love the amazing detail; such an exceptional photo.
Thanks, Charlie, for your kind words.
Great detail in the grasshopper, Mike. How do you learn all this information about the insects you photograph?
Mostly I use Google a lot and then go to sites like BugGuide. After a while, I’ve learned a lot about my favorites.
Yes I find this with my bird photography, between google and my bird books, I find I can put an interesting post together, and as you say, you learn a lot as you go!
That guy really knew where to go to show off his beautiful colours and you did wonderful work in capturing it.
It’s kind of cool that some of the colors of the vegetation are an almost perfect match for the colors of the katydid’s body.