A grasshopper doing what they always do, hiding on the other side of a thin stem and thinking they can't be seen. The way light reflects on their huge eyes makes a 'false pupil' effect, giving them cute, slightly shifty-looking expressions.
The garden is buzzing loudly with the mating calls of these gorgeous, architectural insects. You walk over the grass and loads leap out of the way. Awesome.
My beloved grasshoppers. I love them. The adult of this species is large (15-25mm) and highly variable in colour from browns, rusty reds or oranges, greys and greens. I get all variations in the garden, but especially the red and browns. It is recognisable by the sharply angled keels on the top of the thorax and the furred underside. This nymph is just starting to develop wings; tiny little flaps on the thorax at the moment.
