The photo above shows the following (pick one):
1. After having vanquished and devoured a smaller grasshopper, this rare albino grasshopper is leaving with a full belly.
2. The grasshopper on the left is made of latex.
3. Neither of these are grasshoppers, they are dangerous space aliens.
4. The grasshopper on the right is the rare "Oppossum grasshopper" and is playing dead.
5. The grasshopper on the right is basking in the afterglow.
6. The figure on the right is a grasshopper leisure suit that didn't flatter the guy on the left, who has just tried it on. So, he left it lying on the floor of the grasshopper dressing room, rather than placing it back on the hanger. After all, someone else gets paid to do that.
You never know what you will run across while you are aimlessly wandering around the pasture. One time, I saw a leaf in the exact shape of George Washington. The creature on the left is a Carolina Locust. As insects grow, their armor coverings do not. So, they need to shed them periodically, usually just splitting them and crawling out. The new exoskeleton is soft and needs a little time to harden. During this time, insects are without much protection. Answer #6 is the most correct, so if you answered that one, give yourself a pat on the back. This locust has just emerged from it's exoskeleton, which it has thoughtfully left for the ants (nature's little clean up crew) to enjoy.
While locusts in general are pretty destructive to crops, the Caroline Locust is considered to be among the most harmless, preferring dry grass meadows. For the taxonomy nerds, this guy's classification is:
Common Name: Carolina Locust
Scientific Name: (Dissosteira carolina)
Other Name(s):
Order: Orthoptera
Family: Acrididae
Genus: Dissosteira
Species: carolina
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