Introducing the Spiny-legged Rainforest Katydid (Phricta spinosa), known colloquially as the wait-a-while cricket. It is a cryptic rainforest species with a lichen-like camouflaged colour pattern. It can grow to about 100 mm in body length.
It is mostly males that ‘sing’ through an action described as stridulation; where the ‘file’ on the underside of the left wing cover (tegmen) is rubbed against the ‘scraper’ of the opposite side. The courtship song for this species is a short, sharp zzzip.
Their antennae are exceptionally long; perhaps as much as three times the body length of the katydid. These provide specialist sensory apparatus and it is often their movement that distinguishes the animal from the stillness of neighbouring vegetation.
The auditory opening is visible in the photograph on the right foreleg at the proximal end of the tibia, but obscured on the left by the antennae.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
That’s a particularly stunning photo Neil. Many thanks.
Of incredible relevance is the 1975 Steely Dan album – “Katy Lied” which featured a katydid on the cover.
http://www.hollowearth.org/woebot_images/steely_dan.jpg
Bizarre life form Neil !
I agree with Libby.