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Species Pterophylla camellifolia - Common True Katydid
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)
Suborder Ensifera (Long-horned Orthoptera)
Family Tettigoniidae (Katydids)
Subfamily Pseudophyllinae (True Katydids)
Genus Pterophylla
Species camellifolia (Common True Katydid)
Other Common Names Northern Katydid, Rough-winged Katydid, True Katydid Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Pterophylla camellifolia ( Fabricius 1775) Explanation of Names Species name from Greek camelo camel, plus Latin folius (?) a leaf (1), referring to the shape of the wings, presumably--held over the back to form a camel-like hump(?). Identification Forewings form cup over abdomen, many conspicuous veins. Pronotum has two shallow grooves. Both sexes stridulate "katy-did, katy-didn't" at dusk into night. Song varies geographically. Range Eastern North America Habitat Deciduous forests--often heard, but seldom seen, since mostly lives in forest canopy. Season Midsummer to frost. July-October (Michigan), July-September, or November (North Carolina) Food Foliage of deciduous trees, and shrubs(?) Life Cycle Eggs are inserted into loose bark or young stems of trees and hatch in spring. One brood per year. Both sexes stridulate, males more loudly. Song varies geographically. Flightless, but may glide to lower branches of trees (2). Sometimes seen perched on shrubs. Does not come to lights frequently (pers. obs., P. Coin). Remarks One of the few North American insects, perhaps, memorialized in verse. Below is an excerpt from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.'s poem, To an Insect (1831), full text available from Project Gutenberg:
I LOVE to hear thine earnest voice,
Wherever thou art hid,
Thou testy little dogmatist,
Thou pretty Katydid
.... See Also Microcentrum - Angle-wing Katydids
Amblycorypha - Round-headed Katydids
Print References Arnett, p. 161, fig. 11.15 (3)
Borror and White, pp. 80-81 (4)
Borror, entries for camelo, folius (1)
Elliott and Hershberger, pp. 134-137 (7)
Helfer, p. 264, fig. 405 (8)
Milne, p. 435, fig. 288 (9)
Swan and Papp, p. 74, fig. 38A (10)Works Cited | 4. | A Field Guide to Insects
By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson |  |
| 7. | The Songs of Insects
By Lang Elliott, Wil Hershberger | |
| 10. | The Common Insects of North America
By Lester A. Swan, Charles S. Papp | |
Contributed by Cotinis on 13 September, 2004 - 9:49pm Last updated 7 August, 2009 - 1:54pm |
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