One Cool Cricket

While getting ready to vacuum the living room I spied a little critter crawling on the carpet. It was a Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex). It was a female as shown by its long ovipositor which should not be confused with a stinger. It is used for laying her eggs down deep in the soil. I took it upstairs and photographed it on the Christmas green background with my macro lens before setting it free in the forest. Photographed with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon EF-S 60mm macro lens. #Teamcanon

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.

What are You Doing in My Photoblind?

I kept hearing this strange scratching noise yesterday as I was photographing hummingbirds from my photoblind. I looked all around the around the blind for its source with no luck. Thinking it might be a Chipmunk or a Junco scratching for seed I searched the ground on the edges of the blind. Nope. Suddenly Annika's cat Papaya slipped in under the blind flap startling me! I picked her up and began petting her secure in my knowledge that the mystery was solved. Then the scratching noises began again. HMMMNNN... it can't be the cat because the cat is in my lap. I put the cat down and she went out. As she went out and a little light came into the blind I caught a glance of something moving in the upper corner of the blind. Pulling open the door and flooding the blind with light I saw a cricket climbing up into the darkened corner of the blind. I went into the house and grabbed a jar and captured it. This morning I placed the Mormon Cricket - (Anabrus simplex) a female by the way onto one of Lenore's roses to photograph. It nibbled away on the rose as I photographed it. Afterwards I let it go into the forest. God's love and blessings to all, chris Equipment- Canon 50D,100mm macro lens,Alien Bees 1600 Monolight with a 28"x56"Softbox,3'x5'Gold Reflector Camera Settings- Manual Mode, F16.0,1/200th of a sec, ISO 400