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Species Neoconocephalus triops - Broad-tipped Conehead

Unknown insect - Neoconocephalus triops - male Neoconocephalus triops - male Large katydid - Neoconocephalus triops - female Neoconocephalus triops - female Brown Stick Bug - Neoconocephalus triops - female Neoconocephalus triops second-instar nymph (used for article on rearing) - Neoconocephalus triops Neoconocephalus triops sixth-instar nymph (used for article on rearing) - Neoconocephalus triops - female Broad-tipped conehead (Neoconocephalus triops)? - Neoconocephalus triops - female
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 Copiphorini (Coneheads)
Genus Neoconocephalus (Common Coneheads)
Species triops (Broad-tipped Conehead)
Other Common Names
Three-eyed Conehead Katydid
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Neoconocephalus triops (Linnaeus, 1758)
Explanation of Names
Species name "triops" is Greek, meaning "three eyes". Also a character from Greek mythology, an offspring of the sea-god Poseidon and Kanake. (Based on Internet searches.) This refers to the black spot on the cone, having the appearance of a third eye.
Size
Head to tip of folded wings: 43-60 mm (male), 51-67 mm (female), body length circa 32 mm.
Identification
Song is a buzz interrupted at one second intervals, then switches to a continuous buzz. Males call from low bushes or from high intrees. Active earlier in the season than others in the genus. Large conehead, green or brown. Cone wider than long. Length 43-60 mm for males, 51-67 for females. This is measured from head to wingtips, or tip of abdomen, whichever is longest. (Ovipositor is excluded in females.) Round-tipped Conehead, Neoconocephalus retusus, is similar, but smaller. See SINA (link updated 19 March 2011).
Range
Southern United States: Long Island south to Florida. Across south to southern California.
Habitat
Calling males found in a variety of habitats, including suburban areas. Juveniles and feeding adults occur in open areas with grass. Overwintering adults occur in thickets and forests.
Season
Fall, then April-June in northern part of range, most of year farther south. September-May in North Carolina according to Brimley, p. 20 (1). Males sing March-May in North Carolina (SINA--see Internet references.)
Food
Herbivores, largely on seeds of grasses. Occasionally eat other insects.
In captivity, can be offered potted wheat seedlings, puppy chow (Purina, MO), rolled oats and apples (Beckers & Schul, 2008).
Life Cycle
Females lay eggs in grass stems. Two generations per year in southern part of range, one farther north. Adults overwinter and are found in spring, unlike other members of genus. Males sing February-May and July-August in Florida. Both sexes come to lights.
Remarks
Article: Rearing Neoconocephalus triops with photos of life cycle, moulting, mating, laying eggs, and more.
See Also
Hook-faced Conehead, Pyrgocorypha uncinata, also overwinters as adult, has similar phenology. Cone has hooked tip; song different
Print References
Brimley, p. 20 (1)
Capinera, p. 171, plate 37, fig. 59 (2)
Helfer, p. 270, fig. 419, fig. 420K (3)
Taber, pp. 166-167, fig. 143 (4)
Internet References
SINA: Species account (link updated 19 March 2011)
videos of Neoconocephalus triops male stridulating--Flickr-1, Flickr-2 (Patrick Coin)
Works Cited
1.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
2.Field Guide To Grasshoppers, Katydids, And Crickets Of The United States
John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker. 2004. Cornell University Press.
3.How to Know the Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Their Allies
Jacques R. Helfer. 1962. Wm. C. Brown Company.
4.Insects of the Texas Lost Pines (W.L. Moody, Jr., Natural History Series, No. 33)
Stephen W. Taber, Scott B. Fleenor. 2003. M University Press.