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Caring for Paracyrtophyllus robustus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) Nymphs and Adults



Paracyrtophyllus robustus (Caudell 1906)

subfamily: Pseudophyllinae (Burmeister, 1838)
supertribe: Pleminiiti (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1895)
tribe: Pterophyllini (Karny, 1925) (Orthoptera Species File)

The Orthoptera Species File lists only two species of Paracyrtophyllus: P. robustus and P. excelsus (apparently exceedingly rare, perhaps occurring only in Big Bend NP and likely critically imperiled. I deeply hope that conservationists will keep an eye on this species and ensure its survival.).


Paracyrtophyllus robustus name:
para (Greek): resembling
cyrto (Greek): curved, bent
-phyllus (Latin): -phullos (Greek): leaf
robustus (Latin): strong, hearty

adult female:


Paracyrtophyllus robustus are absolutely beautiful katydids with a song that could be described as "robustus." Unlike normal people, I absolutely love having their sound fill up my home. I also love their looks and sweet personalities, and because of that, caring for them last summer was quite a joy for me.

I have not reared this species from egg to adult, but have only cared for nymphs reared to adult. So this discussion will be limited to my experience with this species and will include several photographs and links to videos. The following topics will be covered: 1) Collecting, 2) Housing and Care, 3) Nymph and Adult Images, 4) Song, 5) Mating, and 6) Observations.



Collecting

I have very rarely seen this species, but in 2022, the very kindhearted Brandon Woo captured some of these katydids and offered them to me to care for. I was then able to add several more by searching a location where Brandon had discovered an outbreak. In 2023, I again collected nymphs beginning on April 8. 2023, and reared these to adult. The katydids are easy to collect and often found on Cedar Elm, Gum Bumelia, Post Oak, Prickly Pear cactus, and Honey Mesquite.

Paracyrtophyllus robustus in natural habitat:

On Cedar Elm:


On Gum Bumelia (two nymphs and one adult):


On Post Oak:


On Prickly Pear cactus:



To collect this species, I clipped off a bit of vegetation, often where the katydid was resting, and put them in a clear plastic container with vegetation to be transported rather quickly to a safe rearing habitat.


These katydids have very long antennae, so it's very important not to close collection containers until the katydid's antennae are completely inside. I generally take quite some time in closing each container, working on one corner at a time. In this way, I can ensure that the antennae are protected and no one is harmed. I also have slightly larger containers (4" x 6") that I can use for these and other larger species of Orthoptera.

In non-outbreak conditions, I believe this species is generally too high up in trees to collect. Hebard (1941) describes their habitat as arboreal, preferring oaks, and notes that such katydids can be difficult to collect.

The outbreak that occurred near me occurred in 2022 and the adult stage lasted just a few weeks. For up to three weeks, the whole landscape in a small area resonated with song, creating a spectacular canopy of musical soundscape over the park area.

VIDEO of habitat with the canopy of song.


In my experience, however, during non-outbreak periods (most of the time) and in non-outbreak areas, these katydids are extremely hard to find. Only rarely did I see an isolated individual up in a tree.



Housing and Care


HOUSING

To house my Paracyrtophyllus robustus, I used a large mesh butterfly cage (36"x24"x24) and added small oak trees started in pots, along with cuttings from various species of oak, a few native plants, and some small branches with bark for laying eggs.

This is a sample katydid cage along with images of the small branches and floral tube for cuttings:



FOOD

I think the most important food to provide for Paracyrtophyllus robustus is cuttings from Post Oak trees and other native trees. In addition, these guys use butterfly sponges (nectar sponges) and drink water. I also provided organic romaine lettuce and apple slices, along with rolled oats, but they did not use the supplemental foods except for apple at the very end of their lives.

final-instar nymph munching on apple:


red female munching fruit of oak:


adult male on butterfly sponge (see General Rearing Tips):


adult male drinking water:



Munching VIDEOS:


VIDEO of final-instar nymph munching on apple.

VIDEO of red female munching oak.

evening VIDEO of yellow male munching oak leaf with background singers.

more VIDEO of red female munching oak.

even more VIDEO of red female munching oak.



Nymph and Adult Images


YOUNGER NYMPHS

These are fairly young nymphs that I collected:



OLDER NYMPHS

second-to-last instar nymph:


final-instar nymph females:


final-instar nymph male:



ADULT IMAGES

This beautiful Paracyrtophyllus robustus is moulting to adult on Honey Mesquite:


freshly moulted adult female with exuvia:


adult female with exuvia:


adult male:


This adult male died naturally in the rearing cage:





In 2023, my first adult moulted on May 18. 2023. By June 14, 2023, all of my Paracyrtophyllus robustus were full adults. The very first sound, a small fuss, occurred on May 21, 2023, and the first full song occurred on May 23,2023.

These katydids appear to be short-lived compared to other katydid species I have raised. My final adult of 2023 died on July 7, 2023.


ADULTS and COLOUR

Regarding the related Pterophylla genus (same tribe, Pterophyllini), Barrientos and Den Hollander (1994) note that in Pterophylla beltrani and Pterophylla robertsi, the green and pink morphs occur based on population density, with pink being the colour of colonial individuals, similar to changes in phases among gregarious grasshopper species. The outbreak individuals that I picked up, however, were different colours.

This is a non-outbreak green female (found alone in a different county):



My outbreak-form adults were a beautiful mix of fall colours: red, yellow, and green.


red-yellow male:


green male:


red female




Song

The Singing Insects of North America site describes the song of Paracyrtophyllus robustus as "a many-pulsed raucous chirp." I admit that they are delightfully loud, but for me, it was a great joy to have them fill my home with their song. If you are a normal person, however, you might consider the song before choosing to raise this species.

Below are links to several VIDEOS showing their singing along with close-ups of the tegmina.

VIDEO of green male singing

VIDEO of green male singing showing different angles.

more VIDEO of green male singing

and more VIDEO of green male singing with a red female definitely interested

more VIDEO of green male singing with a good view of the wings

VIDEO of green male singing with the wings held high as do katydids with alluring glands

VIDEO of a few different males singing

another VIDEO of a few different males singing

VIDEO of dark green male singing with others.

SOUND ONLY video of room sounds with P. robustus and other species.



Mating

Mating in Paracyrtophyllus robustus is prolonged but with production of a full spermatophylax. Generally, prolonged copulation is not associated with production of a full spermatophylax, but I have observed it in at least a couple of species that I have reared, including Orchelimum silvaticum. I sent images and asked Dr. Karim Vahed about this occurrence in Paracyrtophyllus robustus. He agreed that the images show a full spermatophylax and added, "I did find this 'belt and braces' approach in some species in my study, though the spermatophylax was smaller than in related species without prolonged copulation" (Karim Vahed, personal communication, September 2022).

I did not get to observe the initiation of copulation, but I was able to see some point in the middle until separation. The longest duration that I observed from somewhere in the middle until the pair's separation was 17 minutes. There was a bit of roaming during copulation, but within a fairly limited range.

The cerci of Paracrytophyllus robustus appear to be the grasping type, associated with prolonged copulation. Dr. Karim Vahed describes the cerci of a similar katydid, Pterophylla beltrani (also Pseudophyllinae, Pterophyllini tribe), with the three projections on each cercus (ventral arm, central tooth, dorsal arm) and illustrates the "enlargement of the dorsal arm in P. beltrani to show the sharply pointed hook that grips the female's abdominal cuticle" (Vahed et al., 2014).

It appears to me that the male's subgenital plate provides a groove for the ovipositor.


Here, a red female mates with a green male. The spermatophylax is clearly visible:


Here is a green male and green female mating:


And one more green pair is mating here:



Female with partially-consumed spermatophylax:




Observations

My experience with these guys, specifically, a group of outbreak individuals, is that they were very short-lived. I think that's likely due to the fact that they were the outbreak form. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just the ones I collected, so I returned to the area a few times to listen, but after only around three weeks of P. robustus singing, the park fell silent again. I would guess that the ordinary form (non-outbreak) might live longer.

The outbreak form of this katydid are perfectly content to pack closely together both in singing and in feeding. I believe the ordinary form would be much more spread out and less keen on being so close to competing males. I hope to get to raise more of these guys so I can make some comparisons of their behaviours.

I find these katydids to be delightfully comical, exceptionally adorable, and a fun and unique species to care for.

On a personal note, my deepest passion within the field of entomology is conservation, and I sincerely hope that our existing species are preserved to the greatest extent possible. In this article, I mention the (likely) endangered Paracyrtophyllus excelsus, and in a different article, all of the Oboloteryx species, and in still another, all species along with our beloved Monarchs who depend on milkweed for survival, and more. It might be necessary to rear endangered species of animals in simulated natural habitats in attempt to restore their numbers, and I hope that in some tiny way, I can encourage others to consider rearing any animal species that they enjoy. The experience we gain together might prove beneficial when others and future generations discover species who might need human assistance in restoring their numbers.

I hope others will enjoy the "raucous" call of these lovely katydids as they, for a brief time, adorn the tallest oaks and embellish the soundscape of summer.



References

Barrientos, L., & Den Hollander, J. (1994). Acoustic Signals and Taxonomy of Mexican Pterophylla (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae). Journal of Orthoptera Research, 2, 35–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/3503606

Hebard, M. (1941). The Group Pterophyllae as Found in the United States (Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society (1890-), 67(3), 197–219. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25077476

Orthoptera Species File. (n.d.). Taxa hierarchy. http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1140824

Singing Insects of North America. (2023). Truncated True Katydid Paracyrtophyllus robustus Caudell 1906. https://orthsoc.org/sina/152a.htm

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



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