Pygmy Mole Cricket

Description:

Their somewhat odd appearance reminds me of a cross between a pygmy locust and a jewel beetle. These orthopterans are small, about 5mm in length, dark, uniform colouration with blue/turquoise sheen; the two middle segments of the antennae are white and the cerci are not segmented, which, according to americaninsects.net, places them in the family Ripipterygidae. Apparently they used to be grouped with the Mole Crickets, but more recent research showed that they are actually closer to grasshoppers. They have since been placed in their own families, but retained their common name.

Habitat:

I found a bunch of them, all on the same shaded rock in a patch of riverbank cloud forest outside Aguas Calientes in Peru.