This week we still are all aflutter with butterflies, but I thought I’d give you a break. Here’s another insect we spotted this week.
Do you think this insect appreciates butterflies? 🙂
Category: insects (Page 56 of 88)
I found an odd-looking creature this week.
Can you see the bulging eyes?
Even the nymphs, like the one in the photograph below, have them.
Most insects that have large eyes are predators, like praying mantids and dragonflies.
These sharpshooters feed on plants. They use their large eyes to avoid being eaten. When something approaches the insects, they quickly scoot to the other side of the twig or branch. If the potential predator comes even closer, they leap away.
Big eyes can come in handy for prey as well as predators.
Crickets come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
These husky crickets are called field crickets, genus Gryllus.
Even though they are good-sized, they are still nymphs because they lack wings.
The two projections on the end of the abdomen are called cerci. The cerci look like antennae, and serve some of the same sensing functions. Can you see the hairs on the cerci? Those can detect movement.
Compare these field crickets to slender, delicate tree crickets and the light brown Indian house crickets. Even though they look quite different, you can see crickets all have cerci at the end of the abdomen and have enlarged hind legs for jumping.
What kind of crickets live near you?
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.