Insect identification question!?

Question

i saw this bug on the roof of my car this evening....obvious order orthoptera maybe some kind of grasshopper or cricket...but here's the weird thing: it had this loooong stinger looking thing coming off its thorax and pointing straight back about 1 or 2 cm past its wings.....it COULD have been an actual stinger, but it didnt look very practical....what was that thing????

oh and best answer to the first person who can send me a link to a picture of it with an accompanying article....

oh and also, i live in the central kentucky region of the united states if that helps....

Answer 1

Don't know the exact species but the 'stinger' you refer to is probably its 'ovipositor' - a tube used to attach eggs to the underside of leaves.

Try these links:

(can I have my 10 points please?!)

Answer 2

It is not a stinger.  It is called an ovipositor.  It is the part of the female grasshopper that deposits the eggs.  Below are a couple of pictures.  I hope this helps.

Answer 3

If it was an ovipositor it wouldn't of been on the thorax and pointing back past the wings. After a search on the web, I could not find an Orthopteran species native to KY. that sounded like yours.

I'm 100% that it wasn't a stinger. Grasshoppers, crickets and katydids rely mostly on camouflage and/or spines for defense.

Sorry. :(