Katydids

Roesel’s Katydid (Metrioptera roeselii) is in the Katydid family Tettigoniidae) and in the Shield-backed katydid subfamily Tettigoniinae. Shield-backed katydids are called bush-crickets in their native Europe, where, because of their penchant for biting when handled. Their habitat is generally described as un-grazed fields/field borders/road edges/etc. with taller grass (in other words, not active cropland).

Most Katydids nosh on vegetation, but some species are predaceous on other insects, and cannibalism is not unknown. Being large, abundant, harmless and tasty, they are an important food for birds, including owls and kestrels, for rodents, and for other invertebrates.

Black-legged Meadow Katydid are residents of grasslands and gardens, preferably damp ones. BlMKs overwinter as eggs that are laid in the soil or in plant stems and that hatch in late spring. It’s identified by the face and eyes, plus a bluish-green body, wings longer than its abdomen, and colorful legs—with yellow on its front four and black on its hind two.

In this episode we meet three long-horned grasshoppers; Meadow Katydids, Shieldbacked Katydids, and Coneheaded Katydids.

In today’s episode—Tettigoniidae Two—we meet three long-horned grasshoppers, the Meadow Katydid, the Shieldbacked Katydid, and the Coneheaded Katydid, that were struck from different molds.

Katydids are large, beautiful, green (brown and pink morphs also exist), insects of grasslands, open woods and edges whose often ventriloquistic calls can be heard both day and night. In order to belong to be a katydid, your antennae have to be as long as or longer than your body. Male bush katydids are hard to tell apart, and the even-more-difficult-to-identify females are known by the company they keep.