Great Green Bush-Cricket

[ceres]

I was putting the rubbish out last night when I spotted a large green 'thing' on the doorframe.  Rushed indoors to get the camera and was trying to get a decent picture when it leapt at me and I lost it.  Been searching around for a picture and this is the chap:

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http://www.wildguideuk.com/orthoptera/bush-crickets/great_green_bush-cricket_male_lg.htm

Odd the things you find in a London garden!

[ceres]

[Kea]

I had (I assume as I can't tell scale from the photo) a smaller version land on my fringe when I was working at the allotment. I didn't notice it till it crawled down and looked me right in the eye....nearly had heart failure...we both leapt in the air!

[ceres]

The body is about 2" long.  Guess who leapt further when it launched itself at me?!  I spent the next hour shaking my hair and clothes.  Lovely to look at but not from too close, eh? 

[Trixiebelle]

Oh he/she's lovely  ;D

The sound a cricket makes is one of the most soothing sounds in my book :)

[posie]

I had one of these in my bedroom of all places - scared the life out of me with it being so large!!! ;D

[Kea]

Yes nearly the first woman on the moon!

I was quite relieved when I saw what it was.......not a big fan of praying mantis's they really freak me out.....oh and stick insects but you don't have them here (in the wild).

[GrannieAnnie]

We've become used to big insects- its the stinging ones that freak me out. I find I can still run quite fast!

[hellohelenhere]

I saw a similar, but smaller, vivid green cricket or grasshopper a few weeks ago. I was waiting for a bus next to Brockwell Park in London, and noticed it on my bag, which is an olive-green rucksack. As I examined it closely, it arched its back in a strange way, and I first thought that it was making a threat posture. But I then realised it had stuck its ovipositor (egg laying spike, which might be what the spike on the tail of that cricket is) into the weave of my bag and was attempting to lay eggs in it, while simultaneously trying to eat it! I thought both these projects were doomed to failure so tried to dislodge it, which really took some doing. I eventually had to thwack the bag quite hard to knock it off. Once the urge sets in, I guess you really have to lay those eggs...

GrannieAnnie, I was in Virginia this summer and I was stunned at the variety (and size) of the insect life. We're very lucky to have so little in the way of nasties here.
This, for example, is an assassin bug, and the proboscis is just as nasty as it looks - full of toxin for killing other insects, and it can also give humans a nasty bite:



There are some other Virginia wildlife photos uploaded here, if you're interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34242198@N00/sets/72157606354331592/