The more you learn about insects the more interesting they become it seems. I mean, you can look at a lowly roll-poly and just think “look, there’s a roly-poly.” But once you learn of their importance in our ecosystem, and that they are cousins with shrimp and lobster, all of a sudden, they become more interesting…at least to me, which brings me to the katydid.

First of all, katydids are rather large insects related to grasshoppers and crickets. But did you know that there are about 6400 different varieties of katydids worldwide with around 250 of those varieties residing in North America?

But here is the important question; how did this insect get its rather unusual name? It’s pretty easy to figure out how the grasshopper got its name or the stink bug, but what about the katydid? I mean, what did Katy do? A little research reveals a curious tale of its naming origins.

Apparently, the word “katy” is an olde word for a wanton or sexually promiscuous woman with associated stories about wronged or vengeful women and their actions. There’s also a story about a woman named Katy whose man left her to marry another woman. After that couple was found poisoned, Katy became the prime suspect with the katydids confirming her guilt with their loud night-time sounds. So, who killed the couple? Well, obviously Katy did. But as we will remember, the 1975 album by Steely Dan’s title tells us that Katy Lied. If you check out the cover, you’ll see an artful photo of a katydid…anyway, I digress.

While there are over 250 varieties of katydids in North America, we are probably most familiar with the ones that are green and do a great job of blending in with their surroundings. Even if you haven’t seen a katydid, you have probably heard their distinct sounds.

While they sometimes make their sounds during the day, it is more often a nighttime sound they make with their wings. It’s kind of interesting how this happens.

Katydids have one wing that has a rigid scraper and the other has a comb-like file. It is by rubbing these two together that they produce their distinctive nighttime sounds with these sounds coming in bursts of two, three, or even four. Cicadas are also nighttime sound makers, but their sound is more continuous than coming in bursts. If you are curious, you can do an internet search for the sounds of these insects to hear the difference.

One thing that remains pretty constant through most of the species on this earth is that if there is a creature making a sound to attract attention to themselves, it’s probably a male in search of a female. And in most cases, it is the louder ones that get the girls.

While the male katydids are the noisy ones, it’s the females that do the choosing. Apparently, loudness of the male’s rasping sound is equated to a healthier male with which to mate. The males’ sounds are also used to help establish claim on a territory with a bit of chest-thumping, defensive posturing thrown in for good measure. The katydids hear this sound by way of a tympanum located on their front legs.

Katydid bodies are taller than they are wide with long, hind legs. They also have long antennae which can be at least as long as their bodies and sometimes longer.

The antennae are covered with receptors they use to help them navigate in the dark which comes in handy for these nocturnal creatures. There’s quite a variety in the size of the various species of katydids with a range of between 1/2 inch to 4 inches long. If you have seen one, it’s probably one of the longer varieties. The females are usually larger that the males and can be recognized by the large ovipositor (the organ females use to deposit their eggs) located at their back end. This ovipositor makes it possible for the female to deposit their eggs into plant stems or the ground.

They do have large wings, but these wings are not their primary method to move around since they just tend to flap when the katydid jumps. Even though most of the katydids we might see (and they camouflage themselves quite well) are green, it is estimated that about one in every 500 katydids are pink. In the wild, this pink katydid probably doesn’t last too long since its coloring makes it a little challenging to blend in. But if you happen upon a pink one, that is what is going on.

Whether camouflaged or not, katydids are a food source for birds, rodents, bats, spiders, tree frogs, and praying mantids.

While katydids do have chewing mouth parts and will eat a variety of plants, we rarely find katydids in a concentration that would cause a lot of damage. Most likely, you will see them in the late summer chewing on leaves or flowers in your garden and then hear them in the evenings. See you in the noisy nighttime garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: 

David Cappaert, Bugwood.org