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Raising Pediodectes haldemanii (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Nymph to Adult

Pediodectes haldemanii (Girard, 1854)

ped (Latin): foot
dect/decto (Greek): biter, bite/sting
(Foot biter? Perhaps someone walked barefoot among the Opuntia where these guys often occur?)



I was able to collect a small handful of Pediodectes haldemanii nymphs in 2022 whom I raised to adults. I found the nymphs in a grassy meadow in April, 2022. They are quite uncommon where I am and I had never found them anywhere else except for in one small area of one park. I brought home ten nymphs and was able to raise them to adult. Two of the ten had failed moults, both occurring during the final-instar-to-adult moult.

In 2023 and 2024, I was able to collect several more nymphs that I also raised to adult. I did not get an F1 generation for this species.

The Pediodectes haldemanii that I found were in dry grassy meadows, often where Opuntia spp. or Juniperus ashei might be growing. In most cases, the katydids were on the ground and only occasionally did I find them perched on vegetation.

sample habitats for Pediodectes haldemanii:


This Pediodectes haldemanii has overnighted hidden inside a curled Opuntia leaf:



This article describes my brief experience with this species through the following sections: 1) Housing and Care, 2) Nymphs and Adults, 3) Moulting, 4) Song, 5) Mating and Alluring Glands, 6) Laying Eggs, 7) Geriatrics and Parasitism, and 8) Observations. In addition, I am including numerous video links to illustrate the unusual and intriguing behaviours of this species.



Housing and Care


HOUSING

I used a large butterfly habitat (36" x 24" x 24") to house my Pediodectes haldemanii. The adults spend most of their time on the cage netting or cage floor rather than on plants, whereas nymphs may additionally perch on broad leaves. I kept the cage fairly simple but offered a variety of foods.

Adult Cages:



FOOD

Pediodectes are predatory katydids, but are omnivorous and enjoy a wide variety of foods. For my Pediodectes species in captivity, I offer the following: organic Romaine lettuce, apple slices, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potato, pecan/walnut/almond bits, cricket powder, tropical fish flakes, rolled oats, seed mixes, wheat bran, original Cheerios, trail mix, mealworm and woodpecker suet (for birds), cooked chicken meat, wet and dry cat food, bearded dragon pellets, fresh flowers, butterfly sponges, and fresh water.
To satisfy the predatory instinct, I added millipedes since they are abundant in my yard, "mealworm" (Tenebrio molitor larvae), and on-and-off Acheta domesticus crickets. My P. haldemanii especially liked millipedes and mealworms, but they were less keen on the crickets.


A sampling of foods added to the rearing cages:



Images and videos of P. haldemanii munching various foods are included below.

Young nymph munching on cricket powder:


Nymph (brown form) eating almond:


Older female nymph eating almond:


Here's a very old female and a very brave millipede. Can you guess what happens next?


female final-instar nymph munching on apple and senior female and male munching on lettuce:


female final-instar nymph munching on oats


adults munching on suet:


adult female munching on sunflower seed:


adult male munching on fish flakes:


adult male munching on cooked chicken bits:


senior adult male and female on butterfly sponge and senior male drinking water:



VIDEOS of Pediodectes haldemanii munching various foods:

Bad Table Manners?
The lady here is just trying to enjoy her fish flakes, but the male is not so keen about that.
VIDEO of male's bad table manners


Apples, Squash, and Lettuce Videos:

VIDEO of senior adult munching lettuce

VIDEO of final-instar nymph female munching apple

VIDEO of late-instar nymph female eating lettuce

VIDEO of adult female munching lettuce

VIDEO of senior female munching lettuce

VIDEO of senior female munching lettuce

VIDEO of senior female munching lettuce

VIDEO of senior female munching yellow squash


Suet Videos:

VIDEO of adult munching woodpecker suet

VIDEO of adult munching woodpecker suet

VIDEO of adult male munching woodpecker suet

VIDEO of adult male munching woodpecker suet


Safflower, Sunflower, and Peanut Videos:

To my amazement, these guys are perfectly capable of splitting open sunflower seeds:
VIDEO of adult male munching sunflower seed

VIDEO of adult male munching sunflower seed

VIDEO of adult male munching sunflower seed

VIDEO of adult male munching safflower seed

VIDEO of adult male munching peanut


Oats and Fish Flakes Videos:

VIDEO of final-instar nymph female munching oats

VIDEO of adult female munching fish flakes

VIDEO of adult male munching fish flakes


Water and Butterfly Sponge Videos:

VIDEO of adult drinking water

VIDEO of adult female on butterfly sponge

VIDEO of senior male on butterfly sponge


Millipede and Mealworm Videos (predatory behaviour):

Millipede Videos:

VIDEO of adult female eating millipede

short VIDEO of adult female eating millipede

short VIDEO of senior female eating millipede

After a Pediodectes eats the back half of a millipede, the front half will still walk. In this video, the senior male katydid is able to grab the millipede:
short VIDEO of senior male grabbing a millipede

These very senior adults are less able to catch the millipedes, even when already half eaten:
VIDEO of seniors with millipedes

Mealworm Videos:

VIDEO of senior adult munching mealworm

Close-up VIDEO of adult munching mealworm

VIDEO of senior adult subduing and munching mealworm

VIDEO of male munching mealworm

VIDEO of adult munching mealworm





Nymphs and Adults

I did not get to raise these guys from eggs, so I wasn't able to observe the full life cycle. Here I will simply include some photos of collected nymphs growing up.


NYMPHS

I adopted my 2022 nymphs on April 3 and April 4, 2022. Young nymphs can be brown or green, and brown ones sometimes turn green before moulting to full adult.

Here are the first two nymphs I adopted in 2022:


Young nymphs from 2022:


Young nymphs collected in 2023:


Nymph getting bigger:



A middle-instar female nymph with the ovipositor beginning to show and a male nymph:


This middle-instar nymph is still brown, but she will turn green when she moults to adult:


Middle-instar nymph male (freshly moulted):


Middle-instar nymphs male and female:


Middle-instar nymphs females - green and brown


Middle-instar nymphs collected in 2023:



Older nymphs, females and males:


Older nymph male, brown form:


Older nymph male, greenie:


Older nymphs male and female, collected in 2023:


Older nymphs males and females, collected in 2023:


Final-instar male and females


Final-instar nymph female with adult female:



ADULTS

My first adult female moulted on May 12, 2022, and my first male on May 13, 2022.
Note the well-developed wings of the male.


Adult female with two males:


This is a freshly moulted adult male:


Pediodectes haldemanii adult male cerci:




Moulting

In the earlier stages, Pediodectes haldemanii moult without too much difficulty, but each successive moult becomes more dangerous.

freshly moulted nymph eating exuvia:


In later stages, moulting for this heavy and bulky species of katydid is difficult and dangerous. Of my ten Pediodectes haldemanii collected in 2022, two individuals (both males) failed in their final moult to adult. One died very shortly afterwards and another was deformed but lived for eight more weeks.

first failed moult 2022:


My second failed moult whom I named Herman survived for 8 weeks as an adult. Herman was always quite clumsy, but the ladies still tried to engage him for his alluring glands. He was able to eat well, and I made sure his food was easily accessible since he wasn't very mobile.

second failed moult 2022 (Herman):


In 2024, this female failed in her final moult to adult. I was only able to keep her alive for about ten days due to extensive damage to her body during moulting. I kept her alone for her protection:




Successful moulting series of a male nymph:


exuviae from two females moulted to adult:






Exuvia Stealing

In most cases, the newly moulted katydid eats the exuvia. On occasion, however, I saw someone eat someone else's abandoned exuvia.

Here and in the video below, an adult male eats a female's abandoned exuvia:



VIDEO of male eating exuvia of female.



Song

Even with their tiny wings, Pediodectes haldemanii are able to produce a song of sweet little chirps.

Here are several examples of the song with some close-ups of the tegmina:

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of senior P. haldemanii song

VIDEO of senior P. haldemanii song





Mating and Alluring Glands


The most surprising thing I discovered about this genus is the presence of alluring glands (more on this in a separate article) affecting courtship and mating.

In what I observed, even though the male sings, the female of P. haldemanii initiates mating and may be rejected by the male. She is enticed by the male's alluring gland and attempts to mount him. If he receives her, he can attempt to mate but she will have to curve her abdomen under him to receive the spermatophore.

I don't know how well the male's cerci are able to hold the female in position, but they appear to be non-grasping to me.


Here the female approaches the male and then initiates mating:


Here a female chases a male and then the two mate:


This is a brown-form female mating with a green male:



VIDEOS of Mating and Alluring Gland Behaviour

Here, the male rejects an approaching female:
VIDEO of male rejecting female's attempt to mount

It's possible that the male is able to transfer the spermatophore here:
VIDEO of mating

Mating attempts:
VIDEO of mating attempt

dark VIDEO of mating attempt

VIDEO of female attempting to approach the male


Alluring Gland:

Females are very strongly attracted to the males' alluring glands and approach males on a regular basis:


VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

The female here is using the alluring glands and the male is unable to transfer a spermatophore:
VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

Here the male is trying to get away!
VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

Here the very determined female approaches the male who would prefer to get away:
VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour

VIDEO of alluring gland behaviour



Laying Eggs


gravid female:


Pediodectes haldemanii lay their eggs in soil by inserting the ovipositor deep into the soil and releasing the eggs.


Eggs are light tan and oblong, measuring just under 6 mm.




Geriatrics and Parasitism


Almost all of my cared-for Pediodectes died natural deaths of old age, but a very few in 2024 were apparently parasitised (by Tachinidae sp.?), as seen here:



My Pediodectes haldemanii generally lived 2 to 4 months after moulting to full adult with my final 2022 female dying on September 9, 2022. My final 2023 adult died on October 11, 2023, and my final 2024 adult died on October 20, 2024. Pediodectes haldemanii show definite signs of ageing that are common in some of my katydid species. Most notably, old adults begin to lose limbs and parts of limbs. The female's ovipositor might partially break off. The abdomen swells and sometimes darkens. At the end of their lives, they spend most of their time on their bellies, pulling themselves around. For my senior citizens, I provide easily accessible food and make their cage as accessible as possible.

This very old female has lost legs and leg parts:


These very old Pediodectes haldemanii still enjoy butterfly sponges and apple:


I set up hospice habitats for my old and weak adults where they can easily access their food and be protected from healthy Pediodectes who will sometimes prey on vulnerable conspecifics. When they can no longer remain upright and simply lie on their sides, they can still eat if provided with a way to brace their backs.



VIDEOS of senior adults:

VIDEO of very old male munching on apple

VIDEO of very old female munching on apple

VIDEO of very old female munching on apple

VIDEO of very old female on butterfly sponge



Observations


Of all the katydids I've raised, Pediodectes haldemanii are the only truly clumsy ones. They have a hefty build and very short wings, so flying is not an option. They can hop a bit (especially when younger), but seem to mostly rely on moving along the ground to get around. With extremely limited mobility, we can expect this species to be hyperlocalised.

These guys are listed as nocturnal, but mine seemed to be cathemeral with some preference for crepuscular activity. I didn't observe a sleeping period for these guys as with Neoconocephalus, for example, who are completely dormant during daylight hours.

I was surprised to see the ease with which these katydids were able to split open large sunflower seeds to eat the insides. They also had no difficulty in eating peanuts or mealworm suet. Their hunting appeared to be rather lazy, waiting for the insect to crawl to them rather than pursuing it.

These are not long-lived katydids, perhaps due their very heavy size. They show signs of ageing, such as broken and lost limbs, swollen abdomens, broken ovipositors, and darkening.

Most surprising to me were their mating behaviours in which the female is the aggressor. Males sang frequently, but may have been less keen on actual mating than were my other species of katydids. I never got to see a spermatophore or spermatophylax, so I don't know what the male of this species produces.

The appearance of a Pediodectes haldemanii is almost comical with the chubby body and the large, lovely eyes and the oversized labrum. Everything about the species seems to shout "Supersize me!" These guys are exceptionally adorable katydids, both as nymphs and adults.

This is certainly one of the more intriguing species that I raised and one that was a tremendous joy to care for.




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