Multi-Color Costa Rica Grasshopper

Sheryl and I were hanging around an open air cafe in the mountains of Costa Rica when this colorful grasshopper literally jumped into my viewfinder.  It left almost as fast as it got there and I felt lucky to have even gotten this shot.  The mountain jungle became very thick just beyond the cafe railing and I wasn't going hunting for this guy. 

Seventy-five per cent of the acridomorph fauna of Costa Rica is confined to the wet forest environment. This habitat also has a disproportionately large proportion of species which are of restricted distribution within the country or are endemic to Costa Rica or are flightless. The grasshoppers of dry forest, grassland and swamp habitats have in general the reverse properties: they include relatively few species and most of these are capable of flight and are widely distributed both within and outside of Costa Rica. The major factor influencing the long-term survival (or, conversely, the extinction) of the major part of the grasshopper fauna of Costa Rica is likely to be the preservation (or destruction) of the wet forest habitat.