In the middle of a heat wave icecream is practically a must. My pets always get a couple of spoonfuls, too. The dogs then go on for 15 minutes licking their lips and paws, while the cats proceed to grooming their fur, and I go wash my sticky hands.
Recently – the cover of the icecream container was still sitting on the table – I noticed this little fellow also enjoying icecream (the melted traces in the groove along the edge):
Sorry, my brain is jammed (likely the heat), I don’t get it. Are you saying I should have added the link to the observation rather than including the pictures? Or are you suggesting I should include the pictures as an observation to iNat? If the latter, I certainly have: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90634338
I tried to search for the observation when i posted that comment and couldn’t find it. I guess i didn’t search hard enough. Thanks for the link to the obs. I wanted it for the identification.
Ah, ok. Sorry to have caused you to waste time. Will include observation link henceforward.
The following, BTW, is a female of the same species that came to see us the following day:
Pachytrachis gracilis individuals are quite tame, they don’t tend to flee at all. Easy to observe, in other words. I am having to take out at least one a day.
The nymphs are quite cute: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47618397
I am not much of a video shooter, and not good at it, but today I just HAD to film this little one (about 20mm long) eating something so totally un-natural for a katydid. I am fascinated by the mouthparts of insects in general, and watching a grasshopper’s labium and palpi in action while it was literally digging into the doughnut was a first for me. I had never realized that the palpi are not only used as tactile tools but actually serve as fingers to feed stuff into the mouth. Also, grasshoppers seem so stiff on photos, yet this one being bent over the greasy doughnut revealed the wrinkly whitish/greyish leathery skin of the neck under the shield (reminded me a bit of a tortoise). There was a small dead fly stuck on one of the crumbs, and he didn’t seem to mind the protein. He continued to lift his middle legs, likely because they got sticky (reminded me of a cat shaking its hind legs when wet) before he paused his meal to clean them.
When I first saw the thread title, I thought it was something I have complained about: many iNat users observing and submitting the same relatively few taxa.
But I’m guessing the intention was that humans and orthopterans alike seek out cold treats when the weather is hot?
Yes, and not just that. Orthopterans and mammals feel the need to clean up after (and sometimes even while) eating. And afterwards they take a nap. The behaviour is similar.
As for the same taxa being observed – perhaps because those taxa are more common/visible? I can only submit that which I see/hear. I expect this behaviour to be particularly conspicuous during a pandemic when people are/were confined to their backyards – same offerings, there.
