This week a French translation of my book “Relics” is being officially released in France. The one difference from the original version, other than the language of course, is the cover. I was thrilled to see that the publisher decided to place on it one of my all-time favorite animals, the South African armored katydid…
Category: Orthoptera
Dangerous candy
My first visit to Africa was in 1989, when I went to visit some friends in Zimbabwe. Back then the country was still prosperous and democratic, Toni Childs optimistically sang “No more crime in your lifetime, Zimbabwe”, and nothing indicated the darkness it would soon descend into. I spent a few weeks traveling around the…
Leaf-eating leaves
If you ever have a chance to visit a humid, tropical area in South or Central America, make sure to bring a good flashlight or a headlamp with you, because if you go out into the forest at night, you may be rewarded with the discovery of one of the most amazing animals that this…
A record breaker in my neighborhood
When it comes to finding the world’s most [insert adjective] insect, one usually needs to go to some remote, usually tropical location. But it just happens that the world’s smallest cricket lives right around the corner from my house. The Eastern ant cricket (Myrmecophilus pergandei) is a remarkable and highly adaptable little creature. These insects…
Red-headed Bush Cricket, part 2
Exactly one month ago I saw my first Red-headed Bush Cricket, also known as the Handsome Trig. It was a tiny nymph, but it already carried its signature large mandibular palps, waving them like crazy. Yesterday, while in Estabrook Woods, MA, I heard a cricket call that I did not recognize. After my wife and…
My local bioblitz
During the last few days I was supposed to be a member of a team of photographers and scientists, whose job was to document the biodiversity of animals and plants of the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. This event, organized and sponsored by the National Park Service and National Geographic Society, aims to bring…
The Smaller Majority 