An Insect Assembled by a Committee?

This is an insect that looks as if it were assembled by a dysfunctional committee: long angular legs,  long antennae, and beady eyes on a thin green body.

All hail the katydid.

It's usually camouflaged, disguised as a leaf in the vegetation--Nature's gift.

But in our pollinator garden, we see them. Two of them. One is tucked beneath red rose petals, and another is nestled inside a white cosmos.

Katydids feed on leaves, flowers, fruit and plant seeds, and often will take just a bite of fruit, such as apricot, pear, peach, plum, blueberry and citrus, but enough to cause considerable damage. If they're agricultural pests, check out the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) website and learn how to manage them.

These katydids proved to be photogenic.