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| Walkingstick (Family Heteronemiidae), Little Scaly Mountain, Macon County, NC, 8/10/05. This large predatory insect was about 6 inches long. |
A Northern Mole Cricket: from playing dead to returning underground
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| Northern Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa hexadactyla, family Gryllotalpidae), Durham, NC, 3/14/06. When I first found it, it looked dead but was very much alive. | Northern Mole Cricket. When I turned it over, it moved rapidly toward the grass... | Northern Mole Cricket. Legs flying left and right, with a claw-like forepaw lifted... |
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| Northern Mole Cricket. At the grass, it initially got stuck on a grass blade, but I nudged it closer to the ground. | Northern Mole Cricket. It quickly started to dig a hole and went down the hole. | Northern Mole Cricket. Already the thorax is mostly underground. |
Bush Crickets
Bush Crickets, unlike Common Crickets, never seem to wind up on the ground. They are typically found on leaves, furiously working their black maxillary palps to scout the terrain.
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| Bush Cricket (Phyllopalpus pulchellus, Trigonidiinae subfamily, Trigonidiidae family, Ensifera suborder), Eno River State Park, Orange County, NC 8/5/06 |
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| Adult Bush Cricket, Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill Road access, 8/17/05. You can see the large black maxillary palps well in this picture. Common crickets also have them, but they're white and easily overlooked. This one is missing part of the near hind leg. | Adult (almost, still has big white eyes) Bush Cricket, Penny's Bend Nature Preserve, Durham County, NC, 8/23/05. Note the sound-producing spines on the near leg. |
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| Bush Cricket nymph. See the big black maxillary palps, tasting sensory organs, used on a flower. Durham, 7/31/05. | Bush Cricket nymph, Indian Creek Trail, Chatham County, NC, 8/2/05 | Bush Cricket nymph, Indian Creek Trail, a Jordan Lake Game Land, Chatham County, NC, 7/7/06 |
Other Crickets
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| Camel Cricket (Ceuthophilus genus, family Gryllidae), Durham, 6/16/05. | Cricket, Durham, 11/30/05. | Cricket, Johnston Mill, Orange County, NC, 8/18/06 | Cricket, Durham, 8/21/06 |
Short-horned Grasshoppers
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| Grasshopper (Tetrix arenosa, Tetrigidae family), I'on Swamp, Francis Marion National Forest, Charleston County, SC, 3/29/06. A very tiny grasshopper that comes in a variety of color patterns. |
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| Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis), One of the bigger grasshoppers I saw in Boone, Watauga County, NC, 8/29/05. | Mating Differential Grasshoppers, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/23/07. See other Orthopterans. | Differential Grasshoppers, mating pair. Dare County, NC, 10/6/05. | Differential Grasshopper, Durham, NC, 9/28/06 |
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| American Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca americana), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 9/21/06. One the biggest grasshoppers I've seen. | American Bird Grasshopper, Falls Lake County Park, 1/6/07. The intense red was there before image processing. |
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| Short-horned Grasshopper, Durham, 7/12/05 | Durham, 11/4/05 | Fort Fisher Basin Trail, New Hanover County, NC, 12/12/05. |
Nymphs
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| Short-horned grasshopper nymph, Falls Lake SP, Wake County, NC, 3/1/06. | Short-horned grasshopper nymph, Asheville, Buncombe County, NC, 7/9/05. | Red-legged Grasshopper (Melanoplus ferrubrum), nymph, Boone, Watauga County, NC, 8/7/06 | Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis) nymph, Durham, 8/6/06 |
Katydids/Long-horned Grasshoppers
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| Shield-backed Katydid/Grasshopper (Family Tettigoniidae), Indian Creek Trail, Chatham County, NC, 8/2/05. | True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia), Durham, 8/14/05 | Oblong-winged Katydid (Amblycorypha oblongifolia). © 2006 Mick Phillips |
Katydid nymph, Durham, NC, 7/1/07 |
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| Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill Road access, 8/17/05. | Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 8/24/05 |
Katydid and Grasshopper Nymphs
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| Katydid nymph, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 4/29/06 | Katydid nymph (Family Tettigoniidae), Durham, 6/26/05. This one showed up on a butterfly bush in my front yard. | Same nymph. | Another katydid nymph, Asheville, NC, 7/7/05. | This nymph is probably also a member of the grasshopper/katydid family. | Katydid nymph, Durham, 7/22/05. |
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| Katydid nymph, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 6/17/06 |