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Panoploscelis specularis
This is a large (3.5-4 in/85-100 mm) nasty looking katydid that has a deep brown, almost black body with chestnut colored legs. It has a lot of spines all over its legs that it knows how to use to defend itself along with a powerful bite due to its size. The size of this individual and the presence of an ovipositor (photo #5) indicate it is a female. See notes for explanation of "injury" in photo #3.
I found this katydid under a light near a building in the Amazon rainforest of SE Ecuador (700 masl).
What I thought at first was an injury to this katydid's back in reality are stridulatory organs on her wings. There is an interesting article on their purpose on wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stridulati.... In short, they are to produce sound.
Spotted on Apr 8, 2019
Submitted on Apr 6, 2020
5 Comments
Thanks Ornithoptera and Saturniidae. It's one of those things you really don't get completely with a picture. Bizarre is about the closest I can get.
Love the chestnut colors. Great spotting Tukup :)
Wow, that is a huge and thorny katydid, thanks.
Thanks Mark. I don't think so. This was a huge one. From what I can read they develop these stridulatory organs simply to make noise.
What an unappealing looking beast.
Is it nymphal? (buds for wings)
Nice spotting.