Banishing the winter blues.....

Our Giant Floridan Katydids, Stilpnochlora couloniana, are brushing aside the winter blues and are busy egg laying! These stunning, lush green insects belong to the Orthoptera Order along with crickets and grasshoppers.Whats cool about these gorgeous invertebrates is that they have evolved to live their entire life cycle up in the trees. They are mainly nocturnal, feeding at night, (on Buddleia, Bramble and Rose in captivity), and the males make a wonderful short, sharp, rasp with their legs, which they rub along their wings. The adults wings also give them the most amazing leaf camouflage and they can cover quite a distance with a quick jump becoming a strong flight. It is the larger of the two that is the female. She selects a twig and sticks her tiny eggs onto it in a tight batch of little rows. Their seed like camouflage yet again working wonders to protect the defenseless eggs from hungry prying eyes in the wild. The eggs need plenty of humidity and a temperature of 25 to 30C. After 40 to 60 days the wingless nymphs will hatch. They are truly exquisite, with long delicate antennae, spindly legs and beautiful body stripes. Right from day one they can put in a sizable leap when disturbed but become more docile as they age. A really stunning invertebrate.