WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY – BIG CYPRESS WMA, FL
This is a photograph of a Cone-headed grasshopper at Big Cypress WMA, Collier County, Florida. The photo was taken with a Nikon d80 and Nikkor 60mm lens.
Cone-headed grasshopper Trivia:
FAMILY
Long-horned Grasshoppers and Katydids Family Description
DESCRIPTION
The Cone-head Grasshoppers are members of the Long-horned Grasshopper family (family Tettigoniidae). These large insects, 1/2-3″ (14-75 mm) long, have extremely long antennae and 4-segmented tarsi. Males have flat, round hearing organs called tympana located at the base of the front tibiae. Females have flat, swordlike ovipositors. Long-horned grasshoppers range from dark brown to greenish hues. Many members of this large family are known for their songs. Most live in forest trees and shrubs, where they feed on leaves. A few species prey on insects. Eggs are inserted into plant tissues, where they usually overwinter. The Cone-head Grasshoppers are in the subfamily Copiphorinae and are recognized by their prolonged heads that are cone-like in form and their long, sword-shaped ovipositors. Conehead grasshoppers are often well-camouflaged and difficult to find.
Love your photography
2010/05/Cone-Headed-Grasshopper.jpg Is not a photo of a grasshopper Orthoptera it is a Hemiptera or a true bug. you can tell by the mouth and the antennae. I thought you should know. It’s a rely cool insect!
Thanks for the info!
Love your photographs. They are all amazing!
Thank you Lee
Impressive indeed Alan
Nature is beautiful!
Alan, way cool photos
Nice pic, but it is no grasshopper at all nor nearly, no matter how cone-headed! It definitely is in the order Hemiptera suborder Heteroptera, one of the “true bugs”. You can read about them on Wikipedia and elsewhere. I have never seen that one so I can’t be sure, especially without having seen it from above, but if anyone said it is an Assassin bug (Reduviidae) I couldn’t call him a liar.
Cheers,
Jon
All I think about when I hear this name is, “We’re from France” and “consuming mass quantities”. Thanks for the smile. 🙂
Too funny Sandy! 🙂