Katy-Almost-Did

  I'm pretty sure this is a late instar of a katydid. Om discovered it sharing the paper towel with his toast this morning. I think it came in on a flower I brought in and put in a vase because it was broken.

Another view- after the photo shoot, it was returned to the outdoors to either eat or be eaten.

With prep and travel and the event, I spent 15 hours on the Manistee County Fair. Sold a few books. Now the booth will be turned over to the other authors to staff for the rest of the week.

I took the scenic drive home, even though it was dark in hopes of catching the last of the sunset over Lake Michigan. I did get the absolute last of it!

That's all the news, but I'm surprisingly not tired, and I think I'm going to do one more thing before crashing.

See A Good Day to be Green

A Good Day to Be Green

 
This seems to be the week for insects. If this little one hadn't been bright green and sitting on a blue trash can, I probably wouldn't even have seen it. Its body is only a little more than an quarter-inch long. But look at those antennae!



It might be a young grasshopper, but with those antennae, it might also be a young katydid. Young for sure- no wings yet. It's a pretty good match for the picture of a fork-tailed bush katydid nymph. At any rate, it made me smile.

	See a full grown katydid
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Little Green Cutie

 
I brought home quite a few critters in a tub of elderberries this afternoon. Spent two hours taking berries off the stems, and I've probably got an hour to go. Tomorrow. I've had enough fun for today.

The count includes: one stink bug, one unknown beetle, two little spiders, two little green worms, three tiny snails, and...

A lovely, lively katydid! I really love these insects.

They are cousins of the grasshopper, all order Orthoptera, family Tettigoniidae for katydids. There are thousands of Tettigoniidae. However, I think it's in the genus Amblycorypha, but there are a couple of choices there, and I'm not clear on the differences.



The males "sing" by rubbing their wings together, and they say "katy-did."

My mother had little ditties for many occasions. Whenever we would hear one of these insects, she would sing the song "K-k-k-katy, beautiful Katy/ You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore/ When the m-m-m-moon shines over the cow shed/ I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door." I suspect you have to be at least as old as I am to have heard that song.

I didn't manage to get a picture in which you can tell if this is a girl or boy katydid!

But, thanks to the diversity of the internet, you can hear the original recording by Billy Murray on You Tube

By the way, katydids aren't aggressive, but they can give you a painful bite if they are so inclined. Not dangerous, but you will definitely know something bit you!

	See Grasshoppers
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Grasshoppers!

Did you know that there are over 11,000 species of grasshopper? Me neither. I know I see different colors of them, even in my fields. I don't think I'm going to get a solid ID on this one right away.



Here are some things I can tell you. They are insects, of course, six legs, head, thorax and abdomen. If you want to feel somewhat knowledgeable about insects, just learn the Orders. Grasshoppers, Crickets and Katydids are all Orthoptera.

All of the members of that order are good jumpers. They rarely hold still to have their pictures taken.



This one not only held still, he (she? I don't know how to tell the difference) asked me what the heck I was doing sticking that big round thing into his face. He waved an antennae at me, and mentioned that the step surface was cracking a lot.

Then he suggested that I should just enjoy the lovely day!

For comparison, here is the katydid cousin. See how different their back legs are?

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A Fairy Tale in Green and White

Four days ago I was using the riding lawnmower to mow my walking trails through the fields near my house. As I stirred up the tall grasses many insects were flying around and trying to get out of the way. Suddenly, a large, slim fairy, pale and illuminated, as if it somehow was able to surround itself with moonlight even in mid-afternoon, fluttered away. Its wings were long, and it scurried through the warm air, then dropped into the grass, disappearing.

As I continued mowing, more and more fairies sprang away from my noisy and disturbing activity. Each was that eerie pale white, occasionally flashing gold edges from their backs and wings, as if they flickered between sunlight and moonlight. Who were these mystical, enchanting visitors to my field? I'd never seen them before.

The next day I went walking with my camera, thinking that I would capture a fairy in pixel dust. Wrong! You already knew that you can't capture fairies, right? Well, I did see several of them, but when I took a picture, this is what showed up.



So, I found out that you can't take a picture of a fairy! The next day I saw more fairies, and the next day too. Today I saw one more.

I did manage to follow several of the little teasers to where they had alighted. But each time I found the landing place, I discovered that the white fairy had disappeared and left a green monster in its place.

Which green monster do you think the fairy became? Tomorrow I'll tell all!