More Grasshopper Study...And A Little Praying Mantis Study Too

We were busy picking flowers and taking some photos when we had a visitor. It hopped right up on my arm and it tickled. I realized I had a visitor. My son scooped him up and put him on a flower while I captured him in a few photos.


I was pretty excited until I realized that the challenge was cricket, grasshopper, and katydid....we had ourselves a praying mantis! Oh well, it was fun observing him up close anyway.


Here is his behind....way too funny huh?


He was very good at posing. It made me laugh because every time I tried to take his photo, he would move so his head was facing away from the camera. He would actually look right at me and then turn at the last minute.


One last pose...I think he only had one antennae.

We spent last week in Nevada and it was amazing to us how many grasshoppers there were in the barren landscape. I never did get a single photo of the grasshoppers but we talked about their habits quite a bit as we were out and about.They were rather small grasshoppers in comparison to the one we found near a river in Reno.



I shared this guy last week and since them we have been trying to identify him with no success. He was rather large, probably close to 2 inches long. We think it may be a two-striped grasshopper.

Since we had crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids on our minds, we have slowed down a bit to try to find some to observe. We went out several times to try to hear some crickets but they seem to be smaller in number so the volume is less than usual. It has been a crazy weather year and I am wondering if it is effecting the crickets.

Sometimes I think we might learn more when we have trouble locating our challenge subject. We definitely find more to learn about.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom