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Photographed on my property in central Oklahoma, on 30 May 2025.
Photographs and text © Bryan Reynolds
All rights reserved. Contact: [email protected]
Photographed on my property in central Oklahoma, on 30 May 2025.
Photographs and text © Bryan Reynolds
All rights reserved. Contact: [email protected]
Photographed on my property in central Oklahoma, on 30 May 2025.
Photographs and text © Bryan Reynolds
All rights reserved. Contact: [email protected]
Conocephalus brevipennis, the short-winged meadow katydid, is a species of meadow katydid in the family Tettigoniidae. It is found in North America and the Caribbean.
Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America) or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, the Tettigoniidae are the only extant (living) family in the superfamily Tettigonioidea.
Many species are nocturnal in habit, having strident mating calls and may exhibit mimicry or camouflage, commonly with shapes and colours similar to leaves.
Etymology
The family name Tettigoniidae is derived from the genus Tettigonia, of which the great green bush cricket is the type species; it was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. In Latin tettigonia means a kind of small cicada, leafhopper; it is from the Greek τεττιγόνιον tettigonion, the diminutive of the imitative (onomatopoeic) τέττιξ, tettix, cicada. All of these names such as tettix with repeated sounds are onomatopoeic, imitating the stridulation of these insects. The common name katydid is also onomatopoeic and comes from the particularly loud, three-pulsed song, often rendered "ka-ty-did", of the nominate subspecies of the North American Pterophylla camellifolia, belonging to the subfamily Pseudophyllinae, which are known as "true katydids".
Description and life cycle
Tettigoniids range in size from as small as 5 mm (0.20 in) to as large as 130 mm (5.1 in). The smaller species typically live in drier or more stressful habitats which may lead to their small size. The small size is associated with greater agility, faster development, and lower nutritional needs. Tettigoniids are tree-living insects that are most commonly heard at night during summer and early fall. Tettigoniids may be distinguished from the grasshopper by the length of their filamentous antennae, which may exceed their own body length, while grasshoppers' antennae are always relatively short and thickened.
Life cycle
Where the eggs are deposited relates to the way the ovipositor is formed. It consists of up to three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to make a place for it, and place it properly. Tettigoniids have either sickle-shaped ovipositors which typically lay eggs in dead or living plant matter, or uniform long ovipositors which lay eggs in grass stems. When tettigoniids hatch, the nymphs often look like small, wingless versions of the adults, but in some species, the nymphs look nothing at all like the adult and rather mimic other species such as ants, spiders and assassin bugs, or flowers, to prevent predation. The nymphs remain in a mimic state only until they are large enough to escape predation. Once they complete their last molt (after about 5 successful molts), they are then prepared to mate.
Distribution
Tettigoniids are found on every continent except Antarctica. The vast majority of katydid species live in the tropical regions of the world. For example, the Amazon basin rain forest is home to over 2,000 species of katydids. However, katydids are found in the cool, dry temperate regions, as well, with about 255 species in North America.
Classification
The Tettigoniidae are a large family and have been divided into a number of subfamilies:
Austrosaginae (Australia)
Bradyporinae (southeast Europe, west & central Asia)
Conocephalinae (global)
Hetrodinae (Africa)
Hexacentrinae (pantropical, especially Asia)
Lipotactinae (Asia)
Listroscelidinae (Americas, Madagascar, Australia)
Meconematinae (global)
Mecopodinae (South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Oceania)
Microtettigoniinae (Australia)
Phaneropterinae (global)
Phasmodinae (Australia)
Phyllophorinae (Australasia)
Pseudophyllinae (global)
Pterochrozinae (Central and South America)
Saginae (North America, Africa, Europe)
Tettigoniinae (global)
Tympanophorinae (Australia)
Zaprochilinae (Australia)
09 Sep 2022.
Quakertown Swamp, Bucks Co, PA.
28 Aug 2022.
Buckingham Springs, Bucks Co, PA.
04 Jul 2022.
Buckingham Springs, Bucks Co, PA.
You'd think the brown and green ones would be the same species as they are on the same ~10mm diameter flower, but one never knows...Well, I never know...
Yes I'm a jumper
But I'm not a grasshopper
Call me Katydid
Gravid female Phidippus audax with Dichopetala castanea prey. Near Linn, south Texas, November 2018
Gravid female Phidippus audax with Dichopetala castanea prey. Near Linn, south Texas, November 2018
Gravid female Phidippus audax with Dichopetala castanea prey. Near Linn, south Texas, November 2018
IMG_5947 copy
Or, some other insect on a dead river birch (Betula nigra) tree leaf fallen into our oregano: who would kindly identify it for us, please?
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