Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


Raising Conocephalus fasciatus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Egg to Adult

name: Conocephalus fasciatus(De Geer 1773)
fasciātus, Latin: banded



Conocephalus fasciatus are small, delicate, long and slender katydids possessing an elegant beauty. Their movements are nimble and they are agile in flight. The males' cerci are distinctly green.


From what I've seen, Conocephalus fasciatus can be quite abundant within very localised areas. I found all of my specimens on grass, generally fairly close to the ground. These katydids can be found in grassy meadows, especially near a water source. In my area, this species is bivoltine with overlapping generations. In 2021, for example, I found nymphs in the wild as late as December 31 before an Arctic freeze.

I reared a couple of generations of Conocephalus fasciatus and will describe my experience here. This article includes the following sections: 1) Housing and Care, 2) Life Cycle, 3) Moulting, 4) Song, 5) Mating, 6) Laying Eggs, 7) Geriatrics, and 8) Observations.


Housing and Care

For housing, I used large mesh butterfly cages measuring 36" x 24" x 24" with various grass plants (Poaceae) in 4-inch pots inside. The main grass that I used was Chasmanthium latifolium, "inland sea oats."

For supplemental foods, I provided my usual katydid fare: organic Romaine lettuce, organic apple slices, rolled oats, cricket powder, nectar sponges, and fresh water. I also added grass seeds from native grasses.

adult female eating cricket powder, tiny nymph on oatmeal, adult male on butterfly sponge:


Even though these katydids are quite tiny, they are capable of putting away quite a bit of food.
well-munched lettuce and apple of C. fasciatus:


Cute VIDEO of C. fasciatus adult female munching oats



Life Cycle

(Hemimetabolism - incomplete metamorphosis: Egg » Nymph » Adult)


EGG

Eggs are cream-coloured and oblong, measuring about 4 mm.


When eggs are ready to hatch, they turn green. In this case, the female laid eggs in a water sponge:


And the first of the two hatchlings is pushing his way out of the egg and sponge:



NYMPH

Most eggs are laid inside grass and the newly hatched katydid works his way out of the egg and onto the grass stem:


very young nymphs (note the red knees):


young nymph:


middle-instar nymphs - female and three males:


late-instar nymphs male:


cerci of final-instar nymph male:


final-instar nymphs female and male:



ADULT

It took about seven weeks for my Conocephalus fasciatus to moult to adult after hatching. My first generation of adults moulted in mid-July and my second generation moulted to adult in mid-September. My adults appeared to live two to five months.

adult female and adult male:




Moulting

Nymphs generally attach themselves to the side or top of the cage or to plant stems to moult.

male nymph moulting to final instar series:


freshly moulted nymph eating exuvia:


In these videos, the newly moulted nymph is eating the exuvia, and you can see the foregut and food particles through the still semi-translucent body:

VIDEO of nymph eating exuvia

VIDEO of nymph eating exuvia



Song

adult male tegmina:


The SINA site provides samples of the C. fasciatus song.

My Conocephalus species, like Orchelimum species, sing during the day.

The song is very soft, and in my rearing room, it was usually drowned out by my other singing insects. I was only able to get a few recordings with very poor audio:

VIDEO of Conocephalus fasciatus singing

VIDEO of Conocephalus fasciatus singing

VIDEO of Conocephalus fasciatus singing


Neat article about the song of Sphagniana sphagnorum with some comparisons to that of sympatric Conocephalus fasciatus:
Morris, G.K., Hall, A.M. & Römer, H. Listening in the bog: I. Acoustic interactions and spacing between males of Sphagniana sphagnorum. J Comp Physiol A 204, 339–351 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-018-1250-8



Mating

Conocephalus fasciatus mate in the fairly standard katydid position, and the male delivers a spermatophylax. It is likely that this copulation is considered brief (vs. prolonged) based on the cerci shape (Vahed et al., 2014).

C. fasciatus mating:


C. fasciatus mating:




Laying Eggs

Very similar to Neoconocephalus triops, Conocephalus fasciatus lay their eggs in the stems of grass. They chew a starter hole in the grass stem and then insert their ovipositor into the stem pushing downward where they (apparently) release eggs as they gradually remove the ovipositor.

Conocephalus fasciatus laying eggs in grass stem:




On occasion, Conocephalus fasciatus, similar to my Conocephalus strictus and Orchelimum species, will lay eggs in their water sponges.

C. fasciatus laying eggs in water sponge and egg:


(Note: After I uploaded the above egg photograph to Flickr, the company labelled my account as an "adult content" account. Thank you, AI algorithms.) :)

These eggs were simply dropped by the female. Perhaps they were not fertilised, or perhaps the female was simply too old to lay them in grass stems.




Geriatrics

As with some other katydid species, I've observed, Conocephalus fasciatus show definite signs of ageing. They generally darken, turning a bit purple, as they age. Wings become tattered and limbs and parts of limbs are lost. In females, the ovipositor often splits and sometimes breaks.

Senior female and senior male:



Observations



Conocephalus fasciatus resemble my Oecanthus celerinictus in their hoppiness. These katydids, and especially the nymphs, are extremely hoppy so rearers should exercise caution when opening the cage to make sure no one hops out. Adults of this species are also more likely to fly out of their cage than are my other species of katydids.

In other ways, Conocephalus fasciatus to me are like miniature Neoconocephalus triops. Their shapes are similar with their cute coneheads and long, slender bodies. The two species lay their eggs in a similar fashion in grass stems. Likewise, the eggs are similar in shape and appearance.

Conocephalus fasciatus are an interesting bivoltine species and are not difficult to find in the wild in areas where they occur. They can eat quite a bit considering their small size. Since they are diurnal, they are easy to observe and listen to. For collecting during daylight hours, it's a bit easier to collect nymphs than adults: nymphs are rather hoppy, but adults can fly quite well. At night, however, I found that adults are relatively still, so safely capturing them in collection containers for rearing is not a challenge. Overall, this is one of the easier katydid species to find, collect, and rear.



References

Morris, G. K., Hall, A. M., & Römer, H. (2018, February 13). Listening in the bog: I. acoustic interactions and spacing between males of sphagniana sphagnorum. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00359-018-1250-8

Singing Insects of North America. (2023). Slender Meadow Katydid Conocephalus fasciatus (De Geer 1773). https://orthsoc.org/sina/231a.htm

Vahed, K., Gilbert, J. D. J., Weissman, D. B., & Barrientos-Lozano, L. (2014, April 11). Functional equivalence of grasping cerci and nuptial food gifts in promoting ejaculate transfer in Katydids. Evolution. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24724547/



.