The Chocó grasshopper

The first reaction, perhaps, is a question. Is this really a grasshopper? It is as if nature forgot the rules of camouflage and decided to paint the town red – not to mention blue. Endemic to the Andean regions of Colombia, the Chocó grasshopper is rarely seen and is known mainly through photographs like this rather than direct human encounters. A herbivorous insect, it feeds mainly on leaves and other plant matter found in the rainforest, spending much of its time motionless on vegetation.

Picture by Charles J Sharp, shared here with a Creative Commons license.