These truly spectacular insects are known commonly as BLUE RAINBOW KATYDIDS and they originate from the Andean mountain slopes of Ecuador in South America.  These ones however were bred by a friend of mine in Somerset!

As you can see they deserve their common name as they are just so colourful, one of the most amazing insects I have ever had the pleasure of keeping!  I am especially fond of their faces, which are the most beautiful shade of blue (when viewed in the right light) with bright pink eyes!

Unlike my giant Florida katydids, which are strictly leaf-eaters, this species is largely predatory meaning that they will hunt and eat other smaller insects!  They are mainly nocturnal and live and feed at the edges of forests.

The pictures above are all of the female, you can clearly see her very long curved ovipositor (egg-laying spike) on the picture directly above.  The male is just as colourful as you can see below!

I very much hope to be able to breed these amazing insects, and to witness their courtship behaviour.  As in many species of crickets and grasshoppers the male is capable of producing a short shrill song and they also attract females by drumming their abdomen against the branch they are resting on!