The largest grasshopper in Australia (where it is sometimes known as a Hedge Cricket, for it’s residence in hedgerows) this insect can reach nearly 90 mm (4 inches) in length! This lady (the females are 50% larger than the males) was every millimetre of that.
As usual you may click and enlarge the photos should you choose to… i recommend it if you have the time. 🙂
Displaying some serious spines on her hind legs which can sting and are used to defend herself from attack.
You can see clearly one of her 3 ocelli (simple eyes) just forwards of her large complex eyes. (The 3rd is in the centre of her ‘nose’!)
Heavy-duty armour plating and savage weaponry combined with massive, powerful muscles make her a fearsome opponent for any foolish enough to try any funny stuff.
A link to:
BLob's Blog 
When I was a kid, I used to spend some time catching crickets and grasshoppers, but for some reason I don’t think I can catch this one! 😀
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I’d like to see it in your hand to provide scale. Are you afraid of these big critters, Bob?
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They are more afraid of me than i am of them and fly off when you get close (or ‘freeze’ or maybe move round behind the branch they are sunning themselves on! Unlike some of our spiders.)…. but i’d think twice before handling one!! 😉
She would clear either side of your open palm!
They have a very loud mating call, usually at night, and can easily be heard from three or four doors away on my block.
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I wonder if they are locusts?
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Locusts are a species of grasshopper. These do eat leaves but you’d pray you never find locusts like these!!! 🙂
Fortunately they ‘want to be alone’ – she’s the Great Garbo Grasshopper! 🙂
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Did you find the Classic editor??
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No.. it is nowhere to be found, plus they’ve taken away the “Save” button and “Update” button. Forgottenman and I looked for it for a good 15 minutes and never did find where they’ve hidden it. Seems they automatically update, but not too often so you have to wait for them to decide to update or your work is lost. Finally I found an obscure little “edit” somewhere up near the top but not clear at all. Either it was coincidence, or it updated when I hit it. Why do they make such important changes without telling us about them? I don’t know what editor I’m on, but they’ve changed notifications so they are a tiny column with lines that intersect in bold type. And the space to create the blog is smaller so my longer lines automatically wrap. It’s the pits. Complain complain. They also put all my pingbacks in spam so with very few exceptions I have to hand link all my posts to the prompts. I’m thinking because I make so many posts that they think I’m a spammer. And, the “freindliness engineers:” no longer respond. You have to send an email that is never answered.
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Regarding WordPress and its vagaries. I had been trying to “Like” Cee’s posts and it would not go. (oddly, other people’s blogs did work with “like”) I emailed her and she told me when Apple updated, it changed something, and so I had to go to my computer and change something back. But now I cannot remember what it was, but I can find her email to tell you, if you would like. Does anyone else with an apple have this problem? So, sometimes it is WordPress and sometimes updates on our computer. Why doesn’t apple tell us specifically what these updates change? And, I do not understand why WordPress does not have a clear set of instructions for new users and then update the instructions as they update.
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