Katydid.html



Tettigoniidae Fossil range: Carboniferous - Recent
Great green bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Orthoptera Suborder: Ensifera Superfamily: Tettigonioidea Family: Tettigoniidae Krauss, 1902
Subfamilies
Acridoxeninae Agraeciinae Austrosaginae Bradyporinae Conocephalinae Copiphorinae Decticinae Ephippigerinae Hetrodinae Lipotactinae Listroscelidinae Meconematinae Mecopodinae Microtettigoniinae Phaneropterinae Phasmodinae Phyllophorinae Pseudophyllinae Saginae Tettigoniinae Tympanophorinae Zaprochilinae

The family Tettigoniidae, known in American English as katydids and in British English as bush-crickets, contains more than 6,400 species. It is part of the suborder Ensifera and the only family in the superfamily Tettigonoidea. They are also known as long-horned grasshoppers, although they are more closely related to crickets than to grasshoppers.

Tettigoniids may be distinguished from grasshoppers by the length of their antennae, which may exceed their own body length, while grasshoppers' antennae are always relatively short.

The name "katydid" comes from the sound produced by species of the North American genus Pterophylla (literally "winged leaf"). The males of katydids have sound-producing organs (via stridulation) located on the hind angles of their front wings, which in some species produce a sound thought to resemble the words "Katy did, Katy didn't", hence the name. In some species females are also capable of stridulation.

There are about 255 species in North America, but the majority of species live in the tropical regions of the world.

The diet of tettigoniids includes leaves, flowers, bark, and seeds, but many species are exclusively predatory, feeding on other insects, snails or even small vertebrates such as snakes and lizards. Some are also considered pests by commercial crop growers and are sprayed to limit growth. Large katydids can inflict a painful bite or pinch if handled but seldom break the skin.

The spike headed katydid is somewhat notorious for its plantlike appearance, which allows it to blend in with the vegetation on which it lives, and the spikes discourage potential predators.

The males provide a nuptial gift for the females in the form of a spermatophore, a nutritious body produced with the males' ejaculate. The katydid is a leaf-like insect which camouflages on leaves. The eggs of katydids are oval shaped and laid in branches and are laid in lines.

Photo gallery

Speckled Bush Cricket (nymph) Northamptonshire, England	Dark Bush Cricket (nymph) Northamptonshire, England	Tettigoniid on a rock
A green bush cricket sitting on a leaf	Note the long antennae
	Angle-wing Katydid (Microcentrum) in North Texas	Katydid in the night near Torino, Italy
Conocephalus nigropleurum	Juvenile male Caedicia simplex. Auckland , New Zealand. Also found in Australia.	Bush cricket in a green house
Peruvian Leaf Katydid

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tettigoniidae

Wikispecies has information related to: Tettigoniidae

• Bush katydid genus Scudderia Stål, 1873 - diagnostic photographs, natural history
• Black-sided meadow katydid - Conocephalus nigropleurum - diagnostic photographs
• BugGuide.net--family Tettigoniidae
• Singing Insects of North America (SINA) website.
• Bug guide.net-- Pink Katydid
• North American Katydids, with range maps and audio files of katydid songs.