a Beast I met this morning. considering it WAS pretty big and where I'm at I think this guy's a Tettigonia viridissima / great green bush-cricket, but don't quote me on that
This is Tettigonia viridissima, a katydid known as a great green bush cricket (bush cricket being a common synonym for katydid). Not a particularly rare find in most of Europe, especially when compared with the other katydid species I found recently, but visually impressive regardless. You can see these guys have a much more standard katydid shape with their long wings and the less defined plates on the abdomen.
He was a lot feistier than the E. rosae, hence the slightly blurry pics. He was very deliberately walking away from me, and probably wouldn't have been opposed to biting, which made me wary of grabbing the stem he was on as the wind blew it around. Eventually he simply jumped out of sight, and I decided I'd pestered him enough. He has about a month or two left to mate and contribute to next year's brood, and since his call was loud enough to lure me over, I'm sure it'll work on its intended targets as well.
Tettigonia viridissima
Les longues antennes des grandes sauterelles vertes
qu’on observait sur les plumets des graminées
occupées à croquer des pucerons
recueillent-elles les ondes secrètes descendues
des éthers étoilés où se trament nos destins
La face de l’insecte nous regarde impénétrable
les yeux luisant d’une prescience à nous refusée
Sachant qu’elle bondira encore parmi le vert
quand toute…
Aunque se le llame saltamontes está emparentado más con los grillos que con los saltamontes. El largo aguijón es en realidad un ovopositor que tienen las hembras para enterrar los huevos en la tierra.