Studio portrait

I hadn't intended to post another grasshopper so soon after the last pair, but when nature presents you with an unexpected gift it seems a little rude to turn your nose up at it. I spent an hour or so in the garden this morning, photographing invertebrates, and then decided that I needed a cup of coffee, so I walked back to the house, only to discover this chap(ess) perching on the frame of the back door. The shots I took were only supposed to be for my records, but on processing them I found that I really liked the modern studio portrait vibe, especially once I'd rotated this one through 90°.

So, what do we have here?
Long wings
Straight pronotal side keels
Narrow face
Cryptic colouring
White stripe along the wing edge
Tapered abdomen
All add up to a female Lesser Marsh Grasshopper (Chorthippus albomarginatus).

Grasshoppers are still relatively rare among our garden fauna, so it probably won't surprise you to hear that my anxiety not to upset my new friend won out over the need for caffeine. I left her in possession of the back door and went round to see if the front was open, but it was locked, and it wasn't until about twenty minutes later that I realised the grasshopper had left of her own accord, and I could finally get into the kitchen and make my coffee.

In other news: we had a brief visit from a Migrant Hawker this morning, which I think might be a first for the garden.