What visitor is this?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (238268)
Walnut Creek, California
September 6, 2017 8:57am CST
At first I thought it was my yearly praying mantis. It just sits there on the wall, like the mantis. When I saw how fat it is, I thought it was a pregnant female. But when I talked to it, I noticed its head did not swivel, and that it did not have the serrated praying front arms of the mantis. Is it a grasshopper? I really don't know. Any ideas?
13 people like this
15 responses
@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
6 Sep 17
Check out this link, I think it is the right one: It looks like a katydid but then again it is unfamiliar.
Katydid - The Katydid looks like a leaf and has a chirp like no other.
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@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
18 May 18
@lookatdesktop This is the first one I've seen here. At least up close.
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@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
6 Sep 17
@TheHorse But is this insect common to your neck of the woods? It seems to like it in Florida where the hurricane will hit. I bet IRMA will cause many birds and insects to high tail it out of the area but many insects could be potentially carried off into the winds and who knows where they will land?
2 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
6 Sep 17
I see that @lookatdesktop has identified it straight away. I was going to say that the long, horse-shaped (if you'll forgive me) head and the rather long back legs suggest that it's related to the crickets, grasshoppers and locusts and the amazing camoflaged wing covers indicate that it's probably most at home eating the leaves or sucking the sap from the tender shoots of trees where it's almost certain that you wouldn't see it because it looks exactly like a small leaf.
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@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
7 Sep 17
@lookatdesktop I have learned that it is a katydid, a kind of cricket. Mine didn't make any noise, though.
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@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
6 Sep 17
It is one very leaf like insect. One of a kind I would have to say.
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@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
6 Sep 17
Military camo pattern designers would learn a lot from this guy, you can't tell it apart from a leaf, excellent for jungle warfare.
3 people like this
@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
6 Sep 17
I just had to add this to the mix:
Documenting the Diversity of Dallas/Fort Worth Urban Wildlife Video – A Closer Look at Insects and Spiders Wildlife Report with Richard Barnes No Responses » Apr 272017 We see an incredible diversity of insects and arachnids in North Texas. At the time
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@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
18 May 18
@TheHorse Looks more like a leaf with legs and feet and a funny looking head. 
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@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
6 Sep 17
Frankly I have never seen this insect before. It does look just like a green leaf with legs. I imagine it is a survivor from it's possibly former habitat.
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@andriaperry (118793)
• Anniston, Alabama
6 Sep 17
I do not know bugs very well, cant help with this one.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
7 Sep 17
@andriaperry It sound like they like warmer climates. Does this mean "global warming" is real?
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@andriaperry (118793)
• Anniston, Alabama
7 Sep 17
@TheHorse We have those here by the billions, well okay millions but I never seen one only heard them.
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@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
6 Sep 17
Yup I do believe JJ is right a katydid.
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@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
7 Sep 17
@fishtiger58 Could be. I wonder if I'll see more. Or another visitor or two next year.
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@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
6 Sep 17
@TheHorse The Earth is changing that might be why all of a sudden you are seeing this bug.
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@jaiho2009 (39140)
• Philippines
6 Sep 17
Just reading the comments below and thanks to them, now I know the name of this insect.
All I know is, it's a grasshopper coz it looks like one hehehe
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@RasmaSandra (97912)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
6 Sep 17
I looked online. Here is a photo which looks similar. Could it be a katydid?
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@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
18 May 18
@RasmaSandra Inquiring minds want to know!
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@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
7 Sep 17
I saw JJ's response. I've never seen one before.
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