Hi all, just a visitor from the Mantis forum stopping by to tell about an awesome sight I observed while patrolling my front yard for Mantis food. I saw a female Gladiator Katydid (Orchelimum Gladiator) hanging by her front and middle legs from her freshly-shed skin, with her partially-unfurled wings hanging down below her. One really impressive feature of this species is the length ot the antennae . Hers had to be around 3 or 4 inches long, even though her body was only about 1 and a half inches. This is the first time I've seen any kind of Grasshopper, Katydid, or Cricket shedding in person. It was even cooler because I could hear an adult male singing as I watched. Naturally I left her alone, but I fear for her safety as a storm's approaching and I fear the rain and wind could disturb her and cause a mis-shed deformity. Hopefully she'll be ok, as they've been doing this for countless millenia.
PS, I got to see another female O. Gladiator laying eggs in the wood of a windowsill a few days ago.
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Give me Mantises, or give me death!
