Congratulations Papua New Guinea: Papua National Day 2017

Today is the National Day in Papua New Guinea. It is a day of celebration.

I had the chance to be in Porgera in 2009 by the Rapid Assessment Program of Conservation International which was concentrated primarily in the Muller Range, a part of the central Cordillera on the border of Western and Southern Highland provinces of mainland Papua New Guinea. A published record of one group of tettigoniids (katydids), Naskrecki and Rentz (2010) described many new species in the tribe Agraeciini.

We were fortunate to be staying in Porgera and on our last day, we had the chance to see people of many PNG groups getting ready for the big parade and activities in the sports stadium. Here are a few pix. Unfortunately, we missed the big show as our plane was due in early afternoon.

Porgera and the Muller Range is almost due north of the tip of Cape York, Queensland

 Preparations for the Big Parade. Those are Bird of Paradise feathers he's working with

Just about ready!

 The Big Parade!

 The Mudmen are coming!

And so are the Hairmen!

Goodo!

And now for a few orthopterans, some familiar and some not.

Reference

Naskrecki, P., Rentz, D. C. F. 2010. Studies in the orthopteran fauna of Melanesia: New katydids of the tribe Agraeciini from Papua New Guinea (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Conocephalinae) Zootaxa 2664: 1-35.