Sierra Shieldback Katydid - Neduba

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids (Orthoptera) » Long-horned Orthoptera (Ensifera) » Katydids, Camel Crickets, and relatives (Tettigoniidea) » Katydids (Tettigoniidae) » Shield-backed Katydids (Tettigoniinae) » Neduba

Photo#40800

Copyright © 2006 Bob Pollock

Sierra Shieldback Katydid - Neduba -

Roseburg, Oregon, USA

Katydid Sierra Shieldback
(01/10/2006) katydid
Hi,
Attached is a species of a female katydid. It was photographed at low elevations in southwestern Oregon. I found the katydid on our deck after a cold night in late autumn and I placed it on a leaf to photograph it. I think the katydid is a member of the shield back group (given that structure, it should be!), but I have not been able to identify it. Your website is excellent. If you can use these photographs in any way, please feel free to do so.
Bob Pollock
Roseburg, OR

Hi Bob,
We wrote to Eric Eaton to see if he recognized your Katydid. Here is his response: " Well, that's just plain bizarre! I don't recognize it, and it is very difficult to tell anything conclusive from a dorsal aspect alone. However, it does remind me of an insect in the katydid genus Neduba. The powers that be have reorganized that genus, so I couldn't begin to tell you what species it might be. There is also always the possibility that it is something exotic that got loose. My bet would still be on Neduba. Any chance this person can post it to Bugguide where it will get more (professional) eyes looking at it? Eric " We would like to post your Katydid on BugGuide to see if we can get an exact species. If you don't mind, please let us know.

Ed. Note: Eric Eaton continued to research including getting an expert opinion from Rick Westcott who is retired from the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture. Here is that information on the Sierra Shieldback, Neduba sierranus :
"Holotypic male, from Orthoptera Species File Online (Naskrecki & Otten 1997+), Of course, the image you sent is of a female. If not the same species, it is close. The same Google search did not turn up this species as occurring in Oregon. Cheerio chap, Rick Westcott, retired from the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture " Eric concluded with this comment: "Wish my friend had included the species name with this image of a Neduba, but at least he lists the site. The submission could well be a range extension for the species, don't know yet."

Hi again, Attached are two more photographs of the unusual katydid. One is from the side and the other is a close-up of the unusual dorsal structure. The katydid was so different from other katydids I have seen that I should have collected it but, of course, I didn't. I hope it's not an exotic that might prove to be a problem - we have more than enough of those already! I didn't measure it, but the katydid was about the same size as the Fork-tailed Bush Katydids I had photographed in the summer. If anyone needs higher-resolution files for identification purposes, please let me know. And please feel free to post the pictures on BugGuide.
Bob

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Sierra Shieldback Katydid - Neduba - female

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Contributed by Robert Pollock on 12 January, 2006 - 10:26am
Last updated 24 November, 2009 - 6:15pm

some thoughts

I personally can't identify this to species either. My reaction to this genus is that it is made up of one or few species with subspecies that replace each other geographically, but right now they are treated as distinct species.

Regardless of that, by location it is not far from the nearest records of N. convexa in northern California, and that would seem the most likely identity, since no other species is recorded in the region. It would also seem likely to me that species in this genus probably occur along the west side of the length of Oregon and Washington, and should be watched for there (and perhaps already are sitting, undocumented, in various collections). These are likely to connect N. convexa with N. steindachneri described from much further north.

Another point is that this is a nymph, so the pattern may not match the "norm" for adults. However, the adult male of N. convexa shown on Singing Insects of North America is much the same in pattern as this one (but less contrasting).

Interestingly, the female shown in the same place is a totally different species in a different genus from the male. It looks like an Idiostatus, perhaps I. apollo. This could cause a lot of confusion.

… David J. Ferguson, 1 November, 2009 - 12:57pm

some thoughts

I personally can't identify this to species either. However, by location it is not far from the nearest records of N. convexa in northern California, and that would seem the most likely identity, since no other species is recorded in the region. It would seem likely to me however that species in this genus probably occur along the west side of the length of Oregon and Washington, and should be watched for there (and perhaps already are sitting, undocumented, in various collections).

Another point is that this is a nymph, so the pattern may not match the "norm" for adults. However, the adult male shown on Singing Insects of North America is much the same as on this one (but less contrasting).

Interestingly, the female shown in the same place appears [to me] to be a totally different species from the male (it is not just different in color, but in structure). The male is from the Sierra Nevada, not far from Taho, and the looks a lot like the male of N. sierrana shown on the same web site. The female is from Mt. Lassen, which is in theory too far north to be N. sierrana. [I'm guessing something is misidentified among these.]

This female looks more like the male mentioned above and photos of N. sierrana.

And, this all may mean nothing.

… David J. Ferguson, 1 November, 2009 - 12:16pm

Neduba

This is definitely an adult female Neduba. The genus is known from Oregon, but N. sierranus is unlikely to be found that far north. The color patterns are striking, but they're amazingly variable, making them not very useful for species identification.The species known presently from the northern Sierra Nevada, Cascades and Coast Ranges is Neduba convexa. The genus is in need of a revision, and new species are out there.

… Jeffrey Cole, 24 October, 2007 - 10:22pm

Will move to genus Neduba

Seems appropriate to move this to genus Neduba. The pattern on the back does appear to be a good match to the Sierra Shieldback, Neduba sierranus, shown, for instance, at Singing Insects of North America. It shows the range in the Sierras of California, but who knows?

Patrick Coin
Durham, North Carolina

… Cotinis, 12 January, 2006 - 11:37am

An important record.

This represents a pretty important record. It is either a range extension, or a new species in all likelihood. Leaving it at genus is probably a good idea for now.

… Eric R. Eaton, 13 January, 2006 - 12:14pm

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