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Posts Tagged ‘rainbow grasshopper’

Rainbow grasshopper

Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 29, 2023| 12 Comments »

On Wednesday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge I was thrilled to spot this rainbow-colored Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), which is probably my favorite insect. In addition to its multiple colors, I love its striking blue eyes and long antennae.

My title is a little misleading, because technically there are some differences between grasshoppers and katydids. One of the most visible differences is the length of the antennae—a katydid’s antennae are longer than the length of its body, while a grasshopper’s tend to be shorter. In the first photo, I cut off one of the antennae a bit when I cropped the photo, but if you look closely you can see that the antenna runs all the way to the left edge of the photo.

Shortly after I took the first photo, the katydid became aware of my presence and tried to hide from me. She stretched out her legs, which really elongated her body, and she was almost successful in concealing herself behind the stalk of grass.

How do I know that the katydid is a female? If you look closely at the tail end of the katydid in the first photo, you can see a red scimitar-shaped appendage. That is the ovipositor that the katydid uses to make a slit in vegetation in which to deposit her eggs.

Handsome Meadow Katydid

Handsome Meadow Katydid

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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My favorite insect?

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 10, 2019| 15 Comments »

Do you have a favorite insect? Although I like dragonflies a lot, my favorite insect is probably the rainbow-colored Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum). I was thrilled to spot this beauty on some colorful vegetation last Saturday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I remember well the sense of incredulity that I felt when I saw one of these insects for the very first time—I simply could not believe that the bright colors were real. The beautiful curling leaves hide the details of the katydid’s body a little, but add a wonderful artistic element to this image. If want to see the brilliant colors of a Handsome Meadow Katydid on full display, check out this link to a 2013 posting that I entitled Rainbow Grasshopper—it is one of my most popular posts to date with over 315 views.

The vivid colors of this katydid are sure to grab your attention, but you should also be sure to check out its eyes. I am still blown away every time that I see those amazing eyes that seem to be looking deeply into me.  Here’s looking at you, kid.

Handsome Meadow Katydid

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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My favorite insect

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 1, 2017| 6 Comments »

Do you have a favorite insect? This is such a strange question that most folks would not have an immediate answer and would have to stop and think a bit before responding. The quickest responses would undoubtedly come from those who simply do not like insects at all. The most common positive answer, I suspect, might well be a Monarch Butterfly.

Many readers know that I see lots of beautiful dragonflies and butterflies, but my favorite insect is almost certainly the Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), like this one that I photographed on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I remember my sense of awe and amazement the first time that I spotted one—I couldn’t believe my own eyes, because the combination of colors seemed so bright and almost unreal. When I initially posted a photo of the Handsome Meadow Katydid, one of my friends thought that I had added the colors in Photoshop.

To this day, I never fail to marvel at a Handsome Meadow Katydid’s spectacular rainbow colors and incredible blue eyes and am always thrilled to discover again their amazing beauty when I am fortunate enough to find one.

Handsome Meadow Katydid

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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One of my photos “published”

Posted in Art, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on December 15, 2013| 37 Comments »

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.

rainbow1_blog

Check out the article at http://www.cracked.com/article_20811_6-insanely-colored-versions-normally-boring-animals.html .

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Rainbow grasshopper

Posted in Art, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 6, 2013| 16 Comments »

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.

rainbow1_blog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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