Survive your storms and darkness, haijin! Congratulations to last week’s contributors:

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Looking ahead:

They returned again. Their nighttime song, constantly throwing Katy under the bus! As usual, their presence at this time foreshadows the autumn that, traditionally, August begins.

Just like a little over a year ago, this week, what better kigo could we choose than the katydid (kirigirisu)?

Katydids are a large group of insects in the order Orthoptera, related to the grasshoppers and crickets. Some katydids have been called long-horned grasshoppers because of their long and slender shape, but actually katydids are more closely related to crickets than to any type of grasshopper. There are about 6,400 species worldwide, with the greatest diversity in the tropics. Their classification is not well established, with taxonomists differing in their classification schemes. Most North American species are placed in the family Tettigoniidae and divided among seven to ten subfamilies. The main groups of commonly encountered katydids include the true katydids (Pseudophyllinae), false katydids (Phaneropterinae), shield-backed katydids (Tettigoniinae – but sometimes divided into three subfamilies), meadow katydids (Conocephalinae) and coneheaded katydids (Copiphorinae, but sometimes these are included with the meadow katydids). There are about 255 species in North American and 20 species in the Midwest.

susan.mahr “Katydids” Master Gardener Program, Division of Extension

This week, write the haikai poem of your choice (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, haiga, renga, etc.) that alludes to the katydid (kirigirisu).

As always:

Here’s how the challenge works:

1. write the haikai poem of your choice.
2. post the link of your post to Mister Linky.
3. pingback by posting the link to the challenge on your site.
4. read and comment on other contributors’ posts.

Enjoy the evening serenade of the Katydid, haijin!