Short-winged Meadow Katydid

Here's an insect I don't see a lot of [1], a Short-winged Meadow Katydid. You can tell this is a female katydid (perhaps named Katie?) because of her ovipositor, the long, thin appendage at the end that she uses for laying eggs [2].

Males will attempt to woo females with a love song; the lyrics go something like this:

tick ... bzzzz ... tick-tick bzzzz ...tick ... bzzzz ... tick-tick-tick ... bzzzz

It might not sound impressive to you, but if any female katydids are reading this, they're swooning right now. The katydids got their name because a different species, the Common True Katydid, sings more of a "kay-tee-did" song. (Apparently you don't have to sing a "katydid" song to be a katydid.)

Katydids are usually omnivores, mostly eating vegetation but they'll spice things up once in a while by snacking on little insects like aphids.

October 23, 2019 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo 55450643, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] Or maybe I do "see" them. A basically green insect of green vegetation could go unnoticed.

[2] This is a good way to tell male and female katydids (and their cricket relatives) apart.

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