Fun Katydid Facts For Kids

Are you interested in learning about new species? Then we are sure you will love katydid bug facts. Katydids are green insects that live on the leaves of all plant types all over the world from the north to the south, except in Antarctica. Katydids have many species, and each has interesting characteristics of its own. Katydids are often referred to by their common names – bush cricket or long-horned grasshopper – in parts of North America, Canada, and Australia. They are not blessed with long lives, and the females mostly die the winter after the eggs hatch. The body size of katydids varies and depends on the living situation. These green ones living on leaves often have wings covering their body, but few species lack the wings. They have legs just like a green grasshopper that help them stay balanced on the leaves. The legs also help them grab their prey. Keep on reading to know more about green katydid insect facts and pink katydid facts.

If you like the true facts about the katydid, you should also check out mole cricket and dung beetle.

What type of animal is a Katydid?

Katydid is a nocturnal insect from the family of Tettigoniidae and the superfamily of Tettigonioidea. It is often compared with a grasshopper and referred to as a 'long-horned grasshopper'. However, Katydid is a type of insect that is more closely related to cricket.

What class of animal does a Katydid belong to?

A Katydid belongs to the class of Insecta and order Orthoptera.

How many Katydids are there in the world?

More than 8,000 species of Katydids are found all over the world. As it is very difficult to track down insects, the exact number of Katydids present globally is not known.

Where does a Katydid live?

Katydid that goes by the common name of 'bush cricket', is a quite widespread insect. A Katydid is a type of insect that can camouflage itself and is generally found living on bushes, trees, and grasses. A Katydid can be found living anywhere in this world except Antarctica. It can be found in your garden or backyard very often.

What is a Katydid's habitat?

A Katydid is found in a variety of places. For example, a huge number of Katydids prefer to stay in tropical regions like the Amazon Rainforest. Some of them choose a drier and cooler temperate region to live in. Places like the deserts of North America and the heathlands of Australia are a perfect place for Katydid to live in. As there are many species of Katydid, they are found well spread all over the world from north to south except in Antarctica.

Who do Katydids live with?

Katydids are solitary creatures who live alone, except during mating.

How long does a Katydid live?

A Katydid is not a type of insect that is known for its long lifespan. The Katydid has a very short life cycle of about one year. It takes its sweet time to grow and is considered to be fully grown quite late. Females are known to survive not more than two weeks after they lay their eggs in summer. The eggs are the only life stage that can survive the winter season. The species living in the tropical regions can live a bit longer than the species living elsewhere. However, a Katydid kept in captivity can live up to two years with a proper diet and habitat.

How do they reproduce?

The Katydid has a very interesting way to reproduce offsprings. Males send out mating signals through tremulations and make the females aware of their location. A female responds to the mating call and chooses one male to mate with. The mating season of a Katydid can get dramatic as polygamous relationships make the males highly competitive. Katydids, who are females, do not live a long life; generally, they mate only once in their lifetime. The males of this species are the provider of the nuptial gift. A female Katydid takes her good time deciding on the perfect plant to lay her eggs in. She chews a hole in the stems and lays the eggs in there after placing her ovipositor in the hole. The hole is chewed back together after that. A female Katydid can lay up to 20 eggs, but the number of eggs generally depends on the protein in her diet. More eggs will hatch if a good protein-based diet is followed. Once the egg is hatched, she does not get to live much longer and dies shortly after. An incomplete metamorphosis takes place, and the offspring takes time to reach maturity.

What is their conservation status?

A Katydid is a type of insect that can be seen quite easily in your garden or a park as they are quite widespread. The conservation status of a lot of species of Katydid like the Farrell's delicate Katydid and antlered thorny Katydid is Least Concern according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature or IUCN Red List. However, there are species of Katydid like the tree winter Katydid and Lesotho meadow Katydid who are considered to be Endangered. The Katydid often falls prey to different species like a bat. Another reason for this decrease in population can be habitat shifting and alteration. A huge number of Katydids lose their life to extreme temperatures, droughts, and floods.

What do Katydids look like?

Katydids are insects that look a lot like grasshoppers. They are bright green in color, have wings and legs, just like grasshoppers. However, the two can be distinguished by the presence of long antennae in Katydids. The length of the filamentous antennae of Katydids often exceeds the length of their entire body and is relatively longer than a grasshopper's antennae. Different species of Katydids have different varieties of wings. Some have relatively longer wings covering their entire body, and others have shorter wings. There are species of Katydid that lack the presence of wings altogether. Katydids are usually green in color, but they can show shades of pink, yellow, and various other colors occasionally. A pink Katydid, even though it is very rare, can be seen in the wild occasionally.

How cute are they?

The green insect living on green leaves can look very aesthetic and can be a pleasure to the eyes. The presence of antennae in Katydids adds to their beauty. Some people also enjoy the Katydid sound. So Katydids can be considered cute.

How do they communicate?

The Katydids have a very interesting way of communicating with each other. As Katydids often fall prey to species like bats, they have a unique method to communicate without getting caught by predators. The males of the species use tremulations to send their nighttime mating signal, and the females send vibrations along the plants to respond. What sounds like songs are actually Katydids trying to communicate without alerting predators. A Katydid has a tympanum or a tympanic organ located on each of the forelegs that it uses to hear. This structure helps the nocturnal insects prey better.

How big is a Katydid?

Katydids, belonging to the family of Tettigoniidae, have a vast range when it comes to their size. The living situation and the habitat of the species play a major role in the size of katydids. A small katydid who is no more than 0.2 in (5 mm) can be found in a dry or more stressful habitat. With proper nutritional needs and better habitat, Katydids get the scope to develop better and can grow up to 5.1 in (130 mm). To sum up, small katydids can be three times smaller than a fully developed queen ant, and large katydids can be ten times bigger than a regular grasshopper.

How fast can Katydids move?

Katydids are not known for being the best flyers. They are often seen fluttering their wings while moving from one leaf to another. However, the exact speed of Katydids is yet to be known.

How much does a Katydid weigh?

Katydids are known to have about 8,000 species belonging to their family. The exact weight of Katydids is not known.

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names for the males and females of this species. They are referred to as male Katydids and female Katydids.

What would you call a baby Katydid?

A Katydid is often referred to as a Katydid nymph before undergoing metamorphosis.

What do they eat?

Katydids are omnivorous species that live on plants and eat the bark, flowers, seeds, and leaves of the plants. However, the species that are threatened by predators like bats can be nocturnal predators themselves. They often feed on snails and other insects for a more protein-based diet. Some large Katydids can even prey on small vertebrates like lizards and snakes.

Are they harmful?

Katydids do not have a history of causing harm to humans or of being aggressive. They might end up biting when feeling threatened, but the bite will not be painful at all. Katydids can end up damaging a few plants in your garden, but the damage would not be anything major. In fact, they help to wipe out other small insects by preying on them.

Would they make a good pet?

As Katydids do not cause any harm to humans, they can be kept as pets. In fact, Katydids live a bit longer in captivity. However, proper habitat and diet are extremely important for a Katydid to survive in captivity.

Did you know...

Many species of Katydid produce an unpleasant odor when they feel threatened.

The Katydid's sounds

Katydids are known for having ears on their legs. The male katydids have a very interesting way to send a mating signal to a female. They rub their wings together and make it sound like a song. The songs composed by Katydids are quite loud and can be extended up to 20 khz.

Naming the Katydid

The song the male Katydids produce with their wings sound like 'Kay-tee-did' or 'Kay-tee-did-did' and thus the name 'Katydid'. Katydids are quite often called 'long horned grasshoppers' as they resemble grasshoppers with an antenna.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other arthropods including giant African millipede, or atlas beetle.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our katydid coloring pages.