During preflight today I noticed a gigantic insect on the empennage behind the rear door. It was translucent green with long legs and swoopy antennae and maybe wings. It was almost the size of my cellphone. The picture doesn't completely do it justice, as it was backlit and the camera darkens everything to make up for the brightness of the sky, so you can't see the sun shining through it. I should have handed it a dime to hold so you could see how big it is, too.
I have no idea what it is. Some kind of giant grasshopper, or maybe a locust. I'd hate to encounter a whole swarm of them! I think I got one of this guy's relatives on the cockpit window after takeoff too. Splorch!
Backlit subject? Bright sunshine/sky? Turn on the flash!
ReplyDeleteDownload a free picture editor and adjust the gamma etc to brighten up the dark areas.
ReplyDeleteMost every camera sold in the past few years comes with such a program.
It's a mantis
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praying_mantis
It's an adult katydid, albeit a very large one, from your description.
ReplyDelete(Tried to hotlink a jpg, but blogger is acting up.)
Katy did it. Mantises are their carnivorous cousins.
ReplyDelete