boghaunter1 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 7:06 pm Unusual, but beautiful color for a bumblebee sp. - Java...

Xylocopa caerulea -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylocopa_caerulea

Yes, a very beautiful shade of blue! -

Mormon Crickets (actually Katydids)...

The largest sp. of cricket/katdydid I've found here in Saskatchewan was a couple of small "colonies" of Mormon crickets in extreme southern Sask. many years ago. I volunteered to help some entomologists from the Ag Canada Research stations in Regina (now closed) & from the Saskatoon station to do an inventory of the larger insect spp. in what has now been established as Grasslands National Park. The 2 small "colonies," as I called them, were found miles apart, on the tops of very arid, sparsely vegetated small knolls/hills in overgrazed pasture land. At these widely scattered locations there were about 30-50 individuals, of both sexes, at each site. They were made up of 2 color morphs brown & mottled green. I was shocked to see them for the very first time becauce of their size... large females approach 75mm (3") in length & were almost as fat as your thumb with a huge knife blade like ovipositor! They instantly reminded me of being smaller cousins of the Giant endangered Wetas of New Zealand! Following are a couple of YouTube videos (lots more online) that are pretty good at explaining them... they certainly can, at times be a pest sp. & can break out, occasionally, by the millions, in the drier areas of the western United States.





John K.

Another predatory katydid, Panacanthus cuspidatus -

From my part of the world, Neobarrettia spinosa, a quite large carnivorous katydid found in desert scrubland -

Cosmoderus femoralis (Cameroon) -



and a huge Pseudophyllus from Borneo -

More good memories livingplanet3! Thanks for the additional info on the author. Collecting vintage entomology books is another hobby of mine, as well. Interesting to hear how similar interests were spawned from some of the same books. I have another of his books on Butterflies & Moths. His pictorial encyclopedia is still available online (ebay, Abebooks, Thriftbooks, etc.)... have seen numerous copies recently & was quite surprised; must have been published in good numbers in different languages.

John K.

boghaunter1 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 8:52 pm ...I first became aware of S. grandis when I bought a 1969 book, long ago in my youth, entitled "The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Insects" by V.J. Stanek. On pg. 52 - photo #71, is an old B. & W. photo of S. grandis resting on an outstretched hand. I was completely amazed by that old photo & that image has stuck in my brain for 50+ yrs!...

That insect book by Dr. Václav Jan Staněk (1907–1983) was enormously influential on me in my youth as well, and it was from it that I too, first heard of S. grandis (which at the time of the book's publication, was called Phyllophora grandis), and was stunned by the photo. I still have the book, some 40 years after acquiring it, and it's quite treasured! Actually, Staněk's publications in general were an inspiration to me, and I have around half a dozen or more of them, most of which have now become quite obscure to all apart from a few enthusiasts with an interest in vintage natural history books. By age 30, Staněk was assistant to the National Museum (Prague), and not long after, he became director of the Prague Zoo -

https://cs-m-wikipedia-org.translate.go ... r_pto=wapp

https://www.librarything.com/author/stanekvj

Another couple of really bizarre (pretty? ) Hemipterans from Ecuador,


John K.

WOW, WOW, WOW... Many Thanks to everyone for uploading additional photos of all these massive Katydids.

I first became aware of S. grandis when I bought a 1969 book, long ago in my youth, entitled "The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Insects" by V.J. Stanek. On pg. 52 - photo #71, is an old B. & W. photo of S. grandis resting on an outstretched hand. I was completely amazed by that old photo & that image has stuck in my brain for 50+ yrs! I did eventually obtain my own specimen years later (at a pretty reasonable price) & now, being reared commercially, they are available to everyone...AHhhh,,, the times they are a-changing...

Here is another live shot of M. corporalis from the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia


John K.

Very cool (& fragile looking!) spider mimic Cerambycids pr. from Thailand


No I.D. from Buru Isl. - Check out those antennae!


John K.

3rd sp. - M. castelnaudi -77mm - also from Malaysia


A comparison of all 3 sp. - Mormolyce phyllodes, M. hagenbachi & M. castelnaudi


John K.