Now that warm weather is here to stay for awhile, all our insects are out and about doing whatever it is that they do. For some it’s hunting other insect, for others it’s chowing down on some delicious plants or grasses. Others are out there pollinating all the wonderful wildflowers and crops. One thing they’re all doing, though is reproducing, which means that insect nymphs are all over the place, too. Insect babies are not necessarily as adorably cute as mammal babies or some birds, but they are just as interesting. Some of them like dragonflies, butterflies, and ladybugs have nymphal forms that look nothing like the adults, while others, like this short-winged green grasshopper nymph (Dichromorpha viridis) look like smaller versions of their parents. This little guy was one of many, many of them that were hiding in a patch of long grass behind my office. With their bright green color, you can see that they are pretty well camouflaged in the grass. I actually found this one while I was following a clouded skipper that was moving from flower to flower. I had stopped and focused on a flower that the butterfly seemed to be headed for when I noticed the grasshopper nymph. Most of the time you never see these guys because they jump out of the grass as you walk around and quickly disappear into the grass again.