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

Genus Conocephalus - Lesser Meadow Katydids

Katy - Conocephalus brevipennis - female

Short-winged Meadow Katydid - Conocephalus brevipennis - female

Slender Meadow Katydid (Conocephalus fasciatus)? - Conocephalus fasciatus - female

Katydid - Conocephalus brevipennis - male

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)

Suborder Ensifera (Long-horned Orthoptera)

Infraorder Tettigoniidea (Katydids, Camel Crickets, and relatives)

Family Tettigoniidae (Katydids)

Subfamily Conocephalinae (Coneheads and Meadow Katydids)

Tribe Conocephalini (Meadow Katydids)

Genus Conocephalus (Lesser Meadow Katydids)

Other Common Names

Smaller Meadow Katydids

Explanation of Names

Conocephalus Thunberg 1815

Numbers

18 spp. in our area, ~160 total (arranged in 7 subgenera)(1)

not yet in the Guide:

C. allardi - Allard's Meadow Katydid (so. Appalachians)

C. dorsalis - Eurasian Meadow Katydid (BC, adventive)

C. nigropleuroides - Tidewater Meadow Katydid (coastal marshes, NJ to TX, absent from south Florida)

Size

10-27 mm (head to wingtip), body 12-17 mm

Identification

See here(2). Orchelimum spp. tend to be larger and chunkier. Females of Conocephalus usually have straight ovipositors, vs curved in Orchelimum. Many Conocephalus seem to have a clear green "face", while many Orchelimum have some white mottling or other coloration such as red.

Range

most of the world(1)

Habitat

Fields, meadows

Season

Jul-Oct (Michigan, North Carolina)(3)(4), 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.(3)

Life Cycle

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

Print References

(5)(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. Ent. Soc. 41: 155-224. (Full text)

Internet References

genus page • species list • synonym list(2)

Works Cited

1.	Orthoptera Species File Online

2.	Singing Insects of North America

3.	Orthoptera of Michigan Roger Bland. 2003. Michigan State University Extension.

4.	Insects of North Carolina C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

5.	Field Guide To Grasshoppers, Katydids, And Crickets Of The United States John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker. 2004. Cornell University Press.

6.	How to Know the Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Their Allies Jacques R. Helfer. 1962. Wm. C. Brown Company.

Contributed by Cotinis on 13 September, 2004 - 9:15pm
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, v belov, Chuck Sexton, Tyler Hedlund
Last updated 2 March, 2023 - 9:28pm

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