The katydid, by golly

Katydids are not a common sight here in Central Oregon. There aren't a lot of deciduous trees (maples, oaks, elms and such) for them to feed and hide on. But, saying that, I'll bet if you show your 8-year-old the close-up photo of Rebecca Anderson's specimen and then send that young person out the door and say, "Go go get 'em Frank Buck!" he or she will come back with a katydid.

Looking at them through the eye of an entomologist (a person who studies insects) they are in the zoological family, Tettigoniidae, commonly called katydids (in the USA), or long-horned grasshoppers (mostly obsolete term) and bush crickets (in the UK), and there more than 6,400 species known world-wide!

They are primarily nocturnal (night moving) in habit, with strident (very noticeable and annoying) mating calls. Many katydids exhibit clever mimicry and even clever camouflage; they can look just like a new, green elm leaf - with legs. So please be sure to equip that young man or lady with a headlight.

In this neck-of-the-woods they will not be as flamboyant as the one in Rebecca's hand. They'll still be that shape and (perhaps) color, but just not as big.

Here's Rebecca's account of coming into contact with the prize on her hand:

"It was a quiet Friday afternoon and I was out watering our Weigela Fine Wine shrubs, when suddenly, an intensely bright lime green insect came leaping out of the bush, startling me. Wanting a closer look, I peeked under the Dusty Miller where it had jumped to dry itself. There I found a katydid about two inches long. Thinking Dad would want to see this fantastic find, I tried to catch the captivating creature. It took a few tries; it was quite clever, jumping out of my hands every time.

"However, I finally caught the troublesome trickster. The feeling of it in my hand was quite interesting, I was unsure if I liked it very much. Nevertheless, I held on to it for Dad to see. He came out immediately and went to take my picture with it, but not before it made an escape once again. Thankfully, I caught it for the picture. Once taken, I didn't waste any time putting it down in our Hosta, as I had taken up much of its time. My Friday afternoon was made much more exciting and the katydid it."

Katydids like Rebecca's range in size from as small as 5mm (here in Central Oregon) to as large as 130mm (down around Medford). The smaller species typically live in drier or more stressful habitats which may lead to their smaller size.

They are tree-living insects and are most commonly heard at night, during summer and early fall, but they do get around on the forest floor at times. They can be distinguished from a grasshopper by the length of their antennae, which exceed their body length.

The lifespan of a katydid is about a year, with full adulthood usually developing very late, and it takes two to tango; a male and female. Katydids have either sickle-shaped ovipositors (egg-laying device) which typically lay eggs in dead or living plant matter, or uniform long ovipositors which lay eggs in grass stems. They're a fearsome-looking apparatus, sort of like a sword.

When the eggs hatch, the nymphs (babies) often look like smaller versions of the adults, which is unlike butterflies, moths and such, who go through a process known as metemorphosis. In some species, the nymphs look nothing at all like the adult and rather mimic other species, such as spiders, assassin bugs or even flowers - a process known as incomplete metamorphosis, all to prevent predation.

The male gives the love of his life a nuptial gift - part of his mating equipment -and then fight like a bulldog with other males over the honor of who gets to mate with the lady of his dreams first. That isn't the end of it. After mating the female keeps singing, "Here I am, sweetie,' and the fighting and mating goes on. But, usually, the first male is the daddy.

I've saved the best for last - this clever limerick by Kelly Kurt:

Loud clicking sounds I wanted to rid?

More annoying than my neighbor's kid?

Drove me batty of course?

'Cause I knew not the source?

Tho a large insect named Katy did