Leaf-mimicking katydid (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) from Belize. Not only do they perfectly imitate a leaf's pattern, but also include spots that mimic leaf damage.
Today's rare insect: an ant-loving cricket, family Myrmecophilidae, Myrmecophilus sp. (Iowa). These inconspicuous crickets live commensally with ant colonies, fooling them with chemical cues to accept them as one of the group. This relationship has been evolving for so long that this lineage of crickets have lost their wings, have reduced eyesight, and do not sing. I found this one scampering along the ground between entrances of a field ant colony, Formica subsericea.
A mossy-textured katydid nymph (Tettigoniidae) from Monteverde, Costa Rica.
