These may be short-winged but that certainly does not describe their antennae.
I received the diffusers for the twin flash and they seem to reduce the specular highlights a fair amount. This has been a good year for insect photography in the yard and it just got a little better.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
It’d be out of place in a meadow but the formation in the lower right keeps making me think of a doughnut.
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Nah, that’s clearly a cheese bagel, albeit a rather stretched one, with a lot of black sesame seeds around the central opening.
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Now you’ve reminded me of the years when I rode the subway as part of my commute to college in Manhattan from my home on Long Island. One day in the Columbus Circle subway station where I had to change trains I noticed that someone must have dropped a bagel on the platform and it had rolled off and fallen into the area between the train tracks. I watched for weeks as that bagel gradually deteriorated.
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Your story of the bagel between the train tracks reminded me of one of those “it’s not my job” stories. On TX 35 between Tivoli and Rockport, the highway runs along the NW edge of the Aransas Wildlife Refuge. It’s pretty isolated, and there’s plenty of wildlife in the area. A large rabbit had been struck and killed by a car, and it landed at the edge of the highway. When the state striping crew came along and added new white lines to the edge of the road, they striped right over the rabbit.
That was funny enough, but I looked for the rabbit every time I traveled the road, and over time, it slowly disintegrated. After it was gone, it’s shadow remained in the paint, and it stayed there until another striping took place.
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If you came across that paint-striped rabbit now, I bet you’d photograph it—or maybe you did then.
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You see that every once in a while. Paint right over something. Not my job is a common cry lately.
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I thought of a smoke ring but a doughnut might be healthier.
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Katydids’ antennae are something special. This one looks like it might have missed its ideal footing with its posterior pair of legs, but it seems to be quite comfortable with the natural spikes that work like the crampons used by tree climbers and telephone pole repairpersons.
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It’s amazing how they can grip a perch as they do. I shot a grasshopper yesterday, which will eventually show up here later, with the same “grip”. Maybe that’s where hikers and climbers got the idea for crampons.
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I like the look of this image a lot. And Katydids! I love katydids.
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I’ve found a larger variety this year than in previous ones. And the katydid chorus has been delightful. Thanks, Melissa.
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Have you ever seen one of these katydids cleaning its antennae? It’s the cutest thing in the world. I’d never thought of insects grooming themselves until I saw one do it.
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Yes, I have. And so did you. 🙂
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Beautiful. Katy sure did!
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The name katydid rather intrigues me – makes me think of traditional British panto lines and responses – ‘Katy did!’- ‘Oh no Katy didn’t’ etc. Love the placement of the antennae and the cropping of the image – gives a very elegant look.
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She sure did! That Katy…. 😉
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Thanks, Ann. He was a regular pole dancer and I got several images with him upside down and right side up but preferred this. I can imagine a comic routine with those lines being traded.
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She did and did not lie about it.
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She did not. And in order to maintain a grip like that, she can’t have bad sneakers, either.
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And they cannot be high heel sneakers.
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Unless she’s got a wig-hat on her head. In which case she better wear some boxing gloves in case some fool might want to fight.
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Thanks!
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Some of these katydids really do have long antennae. It can be a challenge sometimes to keep them in the frame, but you had no problem with that here.
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It’s a little tricky at night and handheld. Many of my frames cut the antenna off just short of the end. I hold a flashlight next to one of the flashes which helps me see what I am doing and also is necessary for the autofocus to have a target. That helps to see the antenna but it can still be hard to compose it in.
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Very nice capture, Steve! And very impressive antennae.
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Thanks, Ellen. I’ll pass that along to the katydid. 🙂
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😁
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A lovely photo. I suppose with such long back legs and such long antennae, the katydid didn’t need long wings.
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Maybe this one is also a short flier. Thanks, Ann.
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