Kozmic Dreams Photography of Katydids and Crickets

My Digital Photography of

Katydids and Crickets

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Katydids

Common Katydid #3, male

This katydid was on my truck in a parking garage on September 9, 2007. I decided to take it home and photograph it the next day. It is a male---compare the end of its abdomen with the female Common Katydid #2.

Common Katydid #2, female

Brian found this katydid in the front yard. I photographed it indoors on July 25, 2007 (I knew I'd lose it quite quickly outdoors). It is a female---you can tell by the large ovipositor (egg-depositing device) at the end of her abdomen.

Common Katydid #1, female

I found many katydids on the evening of July 28th and 29th, 2006, while camping in Nelson, OH. I had always thought that katydids were only active during the day. That is when I have always seen them. They were strongly attracted to the lantern though. I had three of them there at one time! I photographed the one below on a rainy night. It actually laid an egg while I was taking pictures (look at the last two photos). It was very difficult to photograph because it was so dark outside. I could barely see if it was in the viewfinder or not, so a lot of photos don't have the full katydid in view.

Broad-Winged Katydid, Microcentrum rhombifolium

A student brought in this beautiful leaf katydid for me on September 24, 2004. The last photograph is a close-up of its wing.

Crickets

Field Crickets, Gryllus campestris

I have always loved this species of cricket and have never had the heart to ever feed one to any of my carnivorous friends. They are very friendly crickets and seem to like to be held. It is sometimes difficult to get them off of your hand because they just want to hold on. No wonder the Chinese built special cricket boxes to keep them in as pets. In contrast, the house cricket pictured under this species will not let you hold them for a second. They frantically try to escape and seem to be much better at it than they were 15 years ago. I strongly believe that they are being bred to escape better since they are the feeder crickets that are sold in pet shops. If you think about it, the ones that are best at escaping are the ones left behind to breed, so we are selectively breeding more intelligent crickets over time.

Here is a male field cricket photographed on 9-9-07. He was found singing in my basement.

Here is a female field cricket photographed on 9-9-07. She was found in my basement, probably attracted by the song of the above cricket.

House Cricket, Acheta domesticus

Here is a house cricket (the kind sold in pet stores for animal food) that is molting its exoskeleton. I was in the process of photographing a jumping spider when I noticed the molting cricket in the bottom of the glass that the spider was in, so I decided to take a few pictures.

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