Won't be killing one of these again...

[Snoop Puss]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tettigonia_viridissima

Found a huge one in among my Gardener's Delight toms. Something's been eating them, this looks like a huge locust, that must be it, I thought.

But no, it's carnivorous. Gah!

[vixylix]

ewww.... no thanks! Although, I wonder if they like slugs?

[Snoop Puss]

Might do. The one I killed was about 7 cm long, so much bigger than indicated in the Wikipedia entry. Might manage a slug or two at that size. I'm guessing it had been feeding on the caterpillars that get inside tomatoes. If I see any more of them, they can stay.

[Jay22]

Aww poor wee thing!

[Nicos]

Most years we get the odd locust type of grasshopper thingy...about 3" long!
They always home in on the climbing French beans...can devour all the leaves in a long row in about 3days...just one single one!

Never knew there were carnivorous types....

[Snoop Puss]

^^ Me neither, Nicos. We have the vegetarian locusts too, and they are tremendously destructive. The moral of the tale is I really need to learn more about the goody and baddy insect life here.

Vixylix, I found this on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tettigoniidae):

The diet of tettigoniids includes leaves, flowers, bark, and seeds, but many species are exclusively predatory, feeding on other insects, snails, or even small vertebrates such as snakes and lizards. Some are also considered pests by commercial crop growers and are sprayed to limit growth, but population densities are usually low, so a large economic impact is rare.[9] By observing the head and mouthparts, where differences can be seen in relation to function, it is possible to determine what type of food the tettigoniids consume. Large tettigoniids can inflict a painful bite or pinch if handled, but seldom break the skin.

Looks like slugs would be easy-peasy!

[Nicos]

OH got bitten by one of ours a few years back!
He was showing it to me and we were in awe of it...flipping painful bite!
Couldn't release it back onto the veg plot....
The chooks on the other hand...say no more

I wonder if they get blown this far north by those Saharan sand-laiden winds?

[Snoop Puss]

Our current batch of chickens have never seen one (that I know of). The last lot squawked and ran a mile! The dogs love them.