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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids (Orthoptera) » Long-horned Orthoptera (Ensifera) » Katydids (Tettigoniidae) » Coneheads and Meadow Katydids (Conocephalinae) » Lesser Meadow Katydids (Conocephalus)

Genus Conocephalus - Lesser Meadow Katydids

Classification · Other Common Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Katydid - Conocephalus strictus - female

Straight-lanced meadow katydid - Conocephalus strictus - female

Slender Meadow Katydid ? - Conocephalus vicinus - male

Katydid ?? - Conocephalus fasciatus - female

straight-lanced meadow katydid -alternate image- - Conocephalus strictus - male

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)

Suborder Ensifera (Long-horned Orthoptera)

Family Tettigoniidae (Katydids)

Subfamily Conocephalinae (Coneheads and Meadow Katydids)

Genus Conocephalus (Lesser Meadow Katydids)

Other Common Names

Smaller Meadow Katydids

Numbers

Arnett, p. 162, (1) and nearctica.com list 18 species.

Size

10-27 mm (head to tip of wings), body length 12-17 mm

Identification

See Singing Insects of North America. Compare the, usually larger, chunkier, Greater Meadow Katydids, Orchelimum. Females of Conocephalus usually have straight ovipositors, while female Orchelimum have curved ovipositors. Many Conocephalus seem to have a clear green "face", while many Orchelimum have some white mottling or other coloration, such as red.

Range

Includes eastern and central North America.

Habitat

Fields, meadows

Season

Late summer to frost. July-October (Michigan, North Carolina), some species later in year in south.

Food

Food habits similar to Orchelimum--feed on leaves, flowers, seeds, and pollen of forbs and grasses. Occasionally predaceous on other insects, less so than Orchelimum. (2)

Life Cycle

Females oviposit in grass-stems. One generation per year.

See Also

Greater Meadow Katydids, Orchelimum

Print References

Arnett, p. 162 (1)

Bland, pp. 146-150 (2)

Capinera, pp. 181-182, plate 40 (3)

Helfer, p. 266, figs. 409-410 (4)

Brimley, p. 20 (5)

Borror and White, pp. 82-83, plate 2--C. brevipennis (6)

Rehn JAG, Hebard M. 1915. Studies in American Tettigoniidae. V. A synopsis of the species of the genus Conocephalus (Xiphidium of authors) found in North America north of Mexico. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 41: 155-224. See reference page at SINA for a pdf version.

Internet References

Insects of Cedar Creek

Singing Insects of North America: genus page, species list, synonym list.

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico By Ross H. Arnett

2.	Orthoptera of Michigan By Roger Bland

3.	Field Guide To Grasshoppers, Katydids, And Crickets Of The United States By John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker

4.	How to Know the Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Their Allies By Jacques R. Helfer

5.	Insects of North Carolina By C.S. Brimley

6.	A Field Guide to Insects By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson

Contributed by Cotinis on 13 September, 2004 - 9:15pm
Last updated 1 August, 2006 - 3:05pm

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