maybe Katy did not, but since I only saw one of these (as opposed to the hordes of tiny metallic black Altica litigata beetles and brightly striped baby grasshoppers I've been battling this week)... and since it was so very striking in all its glorious greeness? I simply let this bug finish its salad in peace.
Identification Woes Continue: I was pretty sure before I looked anything up that this was a Katydid. Turns out there are Greater Angle Wing Katydids and Lesser Angle Wing Katydids and even, catch this,
False Katydids.
I believe the one I caught munching away on my Four-O-Clocks (Mirabilis Jalapa) is a
False Katydid.
As a "joke is even more on me" aside? I was thinking, as I looked through the viewfinder, "I may not be a scientist but this is obviously a male. Watch out ladies - pretty impressive bug penis there".
Then I began my online investigations only to discover that no matter what type of Katydid this is, it is most definitely of the adult female persuasion. That impressive bug penis? It is a characteristic "sword shaped egg laying structure". Seriously, some days I wonder why I even try.
