Blue Eyed Grasshopper

~ laura lecce
Blue Eyed Grasshopper - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Blue Eyed Grasshopper – Photograph by Laura Lecce

This past weekend I went to Mexico and had some amazing experiences that I will share with you next week. However, of all of my photographs, this one was quite unexpectedly the most beautiful (and I never thought I would say that about a giant grasshopper!). This almighty insect which visited my balcony was an incredible lime green color with striking blue eyes. It happily sat still while I took my time getting the photo just right. Later that same night as I was walking along the beach, I spotted a few more (even bigger ones!) which I almost stepped on in the dark. One of them was in the direct path of a crowd of people coming down the beach and in need of rescuing. I decided to carefully nudge the insect onto the book I was holding so that I could safely relocate it (mind you, the book was no bigger than the bug itself). However, rather than happily complying with my request, it instead took a flying leap onto my knee, and although I am not at all afraid of insects, this was still a most unpleasant surprise! After a successful second attempt, I moved the big guy out of harms way, and I’m sure he will make a very large and tasty breakfast for some bird in the morning.

20 thoughts on “Blue Eyed Grasshopper”

  2. Beautiful photo…..I have been wanting to go to Mexico and had a chance last year but had to decline. My son-in-law is Mexican though recently became a US citizen and my daughter and he goes to Mexico at least once a year. I hope to go soon. You seem to travel a lot, how wonderful especially being able to have a lot to photograph. By the way, how large are these grasshoppers?

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    1. Thank you Margaret, I hope you do have the chance to go there. I saw only very little and would love to go back again to see more. I am indeed a lucky one who gets to travel often, and thus always finds new things to photograph.
      These grasshoppers were about 3 to 5 inches long! I saw a bird grab one, and it had to eat it in small pieces because it was way too big.

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      2. Yep, I think they’re even actually named Giant South American Grasshoppers. They come in such a gorgeous variety of colors. The most colorful ones I’ve seen were in the everglades in Florida.

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  3. That is one big puppy, and your tentative ID looks right on. I found some information on it here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/73416183. The females can reach up to 9 cm in length, the males 7. I also wondered if they might be related to the Texas (or Eastern or Southeastern) Lubber Grasshopper, which, however, look quite different, and don’t grow quite as big (8 and 6 cm, respectively; here’s an article on that one: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/lubber.htm. Yours looks like it’s wearing a fluffy shawl around its neck. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Great find, Laura!

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    1. Yep, named “giant” for a good reason. I thought the same thing about the neck shawl when I saw it! I really enjoyed taking photos of this critter. It makes me smile because it looks as though it is just hanging out and enjoying watching the ocean waves from our balcony.

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