Green katydid Tettigonia sp. eating a Papilio machaon butterfly

Vegetarian like a cricket (?)

Bitch please… :-)

Many of us think that crickets are mainly vegetarian, but that’s not actually true and many of them are voracious scavengers or even predators. Last spring in Matera (Italy) I had the chance to find a large green katydid (Tettigonia sp.) that was devouring a large swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon).
The way it was holding its “prey” and the place it was on (a large and tall thistle plant) told me that it wasn’t scavenging at all, but it was probably holding its actual prey. maybe a unlucky young butterfly or a old one… a very interesting behavior indeed!