Cut Flowers?

Meandering the garden path today, I came across the lovely Ruby Lilies.  These and the Peppermint Lilies will bloom for a good bit of the summertime before finally settling into their dormant stage.  It is then that the bulbs will continue their growth.  Already these bulbs are about eight inches in diameter.  They put out leaves that can reach three feet in length and then those lovely, lovely blooms!  Not only are the flowers quite showy but they smell divine!  Both the Ruby and Peppermint Lilies are types of Crinum Lilies and do so well in most gardens.

Ruby Lilies are in bloom!

Two blooms that had been cut from the stalk by some nasty critter!

I was breathing in the sweet scent when I noticed a few of the blooms had been cut from the stalk!  My first thought was that some large critter had run through the garden and knocked the flowers around until they broke.  My poor lilies!  Then I spied the culprit!  She was large but not nearly as large as what I imagined.  Hiding under one of the leaves, an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper was escaping the hot afternoon sun.  Aha!  So, you have decided to munch my lilies, have you?  Not for long!  After a quick photo session, the grasshopper met its demise!

The Eastern Lubber Grasshopper that was eating my lilies!

Closeup of the hungry critter that was damaging my flowers!

Before I left the lily garden, I found and killed twenty three more of the grasshoppers.  Some were still in their black and red stage (juvenile) and had not yet molted to their adult colors.  The first one I found had already molted and had developed her wings.  Not that these wings are used for flying but more as a method of communication. She will flash her wings and make a funny "clicking" noise to attract a mate.  Then every male grasshopper in the yard will come running!  Afterwards, her egg cases will be deposited in the ground where they will stay until next spring.  Once mature enough, the little ones will crawl to the surface and cluster together as they gather warmth from the early, springtime sun.  Hatched red, they will soon turn jet black.  Then...the Grasshopper Dance will begin in earnest.  The ones today were escapees from the fate met by their many, many siblings.  Still, there are enough around to spawn about a zillion more that will eat my yard bare of any green leaf!