Intense Inspection

I found this Broad-tipped Conehead in my shop inspecting the sawdust on one of my projects. He had been sitting in the same position for hours, so I figured he must have wanted a portrait session. Of course I obliged before closing shop for the night. The conehead was still in the same spot the next day, and I thought maybe it might be dead. So I gently nudged it with a shaving from my block plane. Turns out he wasn't dead, as he moved right back into pisition. I know nothing about entomology, so I won't try to figure out why this bug sat in the same position for nearly two days. I suppose it just liked my handiwork that much.

Some folks call this a grasshopper, but it is actually a species of katydid called Neoconocephalus triops (L. 1758). The name triops refers to the insect's fastigium appearing to be a third eye. All the better for inspecting that sawdust.