When we were in Tennessee a couple weeks ago, we drove up onto our property to have a look around and check out the views, AND we were NOT disappointed.
The land had yet to be hayed and was quite a bit overgrown, which makes it an idle place for all sorts of critters but NOT for us walking. Oodles of grasshoppers and many opted to hitch a ride with us too.
I wish I had taken more pics to capture some of the other varieties but these are the only ones I snapped but how fortuitous was I to capture a male and female of the same family?!
Turns out these are NOT true grasshoppers at all! Rather, these are Short-winged Meadow Katydids and a member of Tettigoniidae, which is the family for long-horned grasshoppers and katydids, that are distinguished by their long, thread-like antennae.
Female -
Male -
The hind leg of the female, that she seemingly dropped off herself when I attempted to pinch her back legs together in an effort to pick her up to take a different angle pic, OUCH -
Something I just learned from the Google machine - "Insects can only regrow limbs during their nymph stage, before their final molt into adulthood. Once they become adults, their ability to regenerate limbs is gone, and any lost appendages are permanent."
Oops, SO sorry!
I've named her Eileen (I lean), hehehe
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