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Posts Tagged: katydid
Tough Day for a Tettigoniid on a Tithonia
It was a tough day for a Tettigoniid on a Tithonia. When a katydid (Tettigoniid) encountered a crab spider on a Mexican...
A crab spider administers a fatal bite on a katydid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The crab spider drags its prey to the edge of the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The crab spider, hidden from the world around it, consumes the katydid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This Katydid Did
The katydid, as green as the leaves around it, is feeding on a yellow rose. It is paying no attention to the circling honey bees. The bees want...
Honey bees circle a fork-tailed bush katydid feeding on a yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the fork-tailed bush katydid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dorsal view of the fork-tailed bush katydid feeding on a yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Fork-tailed bush katydid seems to be saying "This bud's for me."(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eye-to-eye with a fork-tailed bush katydid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Oops! Check out the frass. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What This Katydid Did...
It's not a question of whether katydid did or didn't. She did. In answer to...
Who goes there? That would be a katydid peeking out between yellow rose petals. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The green katydid cannot camouflage itself on a yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bottoms up! A katydid tunnels into a yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Katy Did, Katy Didn't!
I've always rather liked katydids. Anyone who is called "Kate" or "Katy" in their childhood usually winds up with "Katydid" as a nickname. And...
A camouflaged katydid, its body resembling a leaf, feeds on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The katydid bends to feed on a Tithonia leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up view of a katydid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The katydid continues to feed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Katydids in My Yard?
A few weeks ago I was out admiring my daylilies and noticed what, at first glance I thought was a mantid. Excitedly I ran for my camera. However, as soon as I began to really look at my "mantid" I became suspicious. The forelegs weren't those I expected. And, hold on, those were definitely the legs of a jumper! So what I really had was either a katydid or a grasshopper. I was not nearly as happy as I had been a few moments before.
In doing a little research, I learned that the true katydid (Tettiginiidae) is a relative of the grasshopper, but not actually a grasshopper. The katydid is green, grows to 2 or more inches in length and has oval-shaped wings and long black-and-white antennae. It lives where there are lots of trees and shrubs, which provide its food, preferably deciduous trees, and especially oaks. The eggs hatch in the spring and the katydid goes through several molts, becoming more and more adult with each molt. Interestingly, while they can fly they do so only for short distances, preferring to walk or climb to reach their next meal.
Well, my little specimen was in our front yard directly under our Valley Oak (Quercus lobata) and fit every description of a katydid--except that I could not really identify its oval wings. So, what to do?
In checking the UC IPM website, I learned that in a healthy garden parasites will attack the katydid eggs, thereby keeping them under control. Clearly I don't have an infestation, so I guess I'll let nature take its course.
Oh, and by the way, a few days later I noticed several carefully scalloped leaves on the roses in my back yard. Hmmm....could that katydid have been feasting on a few things besides the oak! (Actually this turned out to be leaf utter bee "damage". Leafcutter bees are beneficial insects.)
Resources
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/true_katydid.htm
Wikipedia (grasshoppers)
www.ipm.ucdavis.edu
Katydid. (Photos by Marian Chmieleski)
Beneficial leafcutter bee "damage".
