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Photo#1167113
drumming katydid - Meconema thalassinum - female

drumming katydid - Meconema thalassinum - Female
Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan, USA
November 20, 2015
This is the picture from today showing a female Drumming Katydid (?)- I was wondering looking at her abdomen - has she already laid her eggs? It is suddenly quite cold. She was on the wall at the same spot yesterday and wasn't moving but today when I caught her to take a better picture of her ovipositor she came to life. I chilled her for a while in the fridge and that calmed her down. As soon as I put her back outside she recovered - at least she moved from the spot.

My real reason for submitting this katydid is that the only other picture of one in Michigan was in July some years back. I wasn't aware they were still afoot in mid-November here. But if this is a drummer, they are.

If she has just laid her eggs, where would she have laid them? What stage do they overwinter as?

Thanks- I know I ask a lot of questions but there is a lot to learn about these. It is the first time I saw one around here.

Many thanks to anyone who cares to answer any of this!

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drumming katydid - Meconema thalassinum - female drumming katydid - Meconema thalassinum - female drumming katydid - Meconema thalassinum - female

yes, female Meconema thalassinum
You can read more here

Moved from ID Request.

 
Hey thanks, Metrioptera. I ha
Hey thanks, Metrioptera. I had looked at that page. I'll go to the suggested book. I know this katydid is an exotic. But unless someone tells me it is a voracious pest I'll keep on being glad one showed up in my yard. Thanks again!

 
They're definitely not pests (at least not yet!). They mostly feed on aphids and other little insects, and since there are no native members of the subfamily in North America, they are not really competing directly with anything native. More of a "novelty" species, in my opinion. I'm usually not a fan of introduced species, but I kinda like them!

And yes, to try and answer some of your other questions, the adults do tend to last pretty late into the season. The females lay their eggs in bark crevices and similar places, and the eggs overwinter.

 
Thanks again, Metrioptera. T
Thanks again, Metrioptera. That is exactly the information I was interested in. I have a feeling she may have been laying her eggs in the deck wall paint, which is peeling and there is a lot of space under the clapboard.

I'm glad you like them too! They are so pretty. And they are another example of a hobby of mine, finding "humanoid" faces on other critters. This one has the face on its back, using the real eyes for eyes, and it even looks as if it has nostrils!

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