Critter at the Door

Sunday afternoon when I went to go out the front door I was surprised by a little critter climbing up the side of the door. It was a Mormon Cricket that stood out like a sore thumb on the glossy surface of the door. Had it been on tree trunk with its fantastic camouflage I probably would have missed it. Mormon Crickets aren't actually a member of the cricket family but are a Katydid. Their name most likely stems the "The Miracle of the Gulls", an 1848 event often credited by Mormons for saving the Mormon "Latter Day Saints" pioneers' crops in the Salt Lake Valley. According to Mormonism, seagulls miraculously saved their crops by eating thousands of crickets that were devouring the fields. This must also be why some people jokingly refer to gulls as the Mormon Air Force. Mormon Crickets still can be a threat to crops even today as well as being a slick road hazard when large infestations of them cover the roadways in the millions. In the western United states these population explosions occur about every three years or so. Mostly in Western Colorado and Utah. This is a female as evidenced by the large stinger looking body part is actually an ovipositor for laying eggs in the soil. God's precious light and love to you, chrisThis image was created by placing the cricket on a white sweep. It was then lit using two LED light banks one on the insect and one on the background. I used a Canon 7D mkII camera with a 100mm macro lens. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/500th of a sec.