Long-leggedy Beastie

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

This prehistoric looking beastie seems very appropriate for Halloween, don't you think?

It's been a grand week for me, critter-wise.  Two jumping spiders and rare-ish butterfly, and now this bark-mimicking grasshopper (Coryphistes ruricola).  Mishkins wanted to go out early this morning, and I took the opportunity to do a bit of watering.  I thought (in the semi-darkness) that there was a dead leaf on the mandarin tree, and I stretched out a hand to pull it off - and it moved.  I think I  jumped about two feet vertically, before I collected my wits and ran inside to get the camera.

It's an outlandish looking critter, but so interesting - and I've never seen one before.  They're not at all rare - just generally very hard to see against the bark of a tree.  I've put a couple into extras just in case one picture wasn't enough to freak you all out :))

The Bark-mimicking Grasshopper is a grey-brown colour with textured pattern. They are well camouflaged when at rest on a tree trunk. They have sword shaped antennae, flattened at the base. Their eyes have a marbled pattern. During the day time, they often rest on tree with rough bark surface, and are hard to see against the bark texture.
Size:  body length 40mm-50mm