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96 COLLEGE ENTOMOLOGY
of the eastern states, simulates "Katy did, Katy she did." The notes begin
soon after dusk, are uttered at intervals of about 5 seconds, and may continue
until daybreak. Our western species stridulate audibly but make no such
remarks, and this appears to be equally true in most other parts of the temperate
and tropical world wherever these insects live. There are some 1,120 known
genera and over 7,000 described species.
The tree-inhabiting forms are commonly green to match their immediate surroundings,
often with the tegmen remarkably leaf-like in design and color. The
wingless, ground-inhabiting forms are usually dull in color, normally entirely
wingless or with ver.y short wing stubs. The compressed bodies, the extremely
long and many-segmented antennre, the four-segmented tarsi, and the greatly
developed sword-shaped or sickle-like ovipositors serve most readily to distinguish
them. The hind legs are very long and fitted for jumping. The fljght
is short and rapid. While they are mostly diurnal, many sing during dusk and
the early part of the night while other species oHen keep up their ceaseless repetitions
throughout the whole summer night and in most places they are commonly
mistaken for crickets. In all cases the noises are produced by rubbing
together a file at the base of the left tegmen and a scraper on the right. Many
of the so-called wingless katydids in reality have very short tegmina, often
hidden by the large pronotum and so constructed as to be excellent mtlsical
instruments. Females may also stridulate but are not so noisy as the males.
Auditory organs occur as tympanulUs exposed or hidden on Lhe outer bases of
the fore tibire.
Katydids are largely herbivorous and feed upon native trees, shrubs, grasses,
and cultivated plants. Some forms, however, are supposed to be carnivorous
as is the case with many of the members of the entire order ORTHOPTERA.
By means of the large ovipositors the eggs are deposited into Lhe sailor into the
tissues of plants. Some insert their large reniform flattened eggs in the edges of
leaves and in confinement have slit the edge of ordinary writing paper to insert
perfectly an egg three or foul' times as thick as the paper. In the temperate regions
the eggs alone remain over winter and each year a new generation appears,
only to die out before the succeeding winter.
Among the more interesling arboreal forms may be mentioned the following
species: In middle and eastern North America the northern katydid, PteroPhylla
camellifolia (Fabricius). already mentioned. is by far the best known because
of its shrill characteristic notes. It measures from 25-35 mm. i.n length and is
generally dark green tinged with yellow. The eggs are inserted into t.he crevices
of the loose bark of trees. The Florida katydid, Leafiorz'densis (Beutenmiiller),
is a pale yellowish-green species common in the oaks and cabbage palms of
Florida.
Among the narrow-winged katydids, Scudderia jurcata Brunner is most
widely distributed in this country, ranging from southern Canada to Florida
and central California. The male stridulations sound like ch.h-e-ep, repeated
four or five times at intervals of 1 second. It is diurnal and its song continues
into the forepart Qf the night. The females lay their eggs in the edges of leaves,