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Subfamily Conocephalinae - Coneheads and Meadow Katydids

Meadow Katydid species? - Orchelimum vulgare - female Another unknown Katydid - Conocephalus strictus Katydid? - Conocephalus saltans - female Pond side small katydid - Conocephalus fasciatus - female Cricket? - Conocephalus nemoralis - female Agile Meadow Katydid - Orchelimum agile - female Immature Conocephalus strictus? - Orchelimum - female Which Katydid species? - Orchelimum - 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)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
=Conocephalidae
Numbers
61 spp. in 7 genera in NA(1)(2) in two tribes:
1. Conocephalini (Meadow Katydids): genera Conocephalus (19 spp.), Odontoxiphidium (1 sp.), Orchelimum (19 spp.)
2. tribe Copiphorini (Coneheads): genera Belocephalus (5 spp.), Bucrates (2 spp.), Neoconocephalus (15 spp.), and Pyrgocorypha (1 sp.)
Size
body length 10-74 mm
Identification
Head formed into a pointed or rounded cone that projects beyond the basal antennal segments. Most species occur in brown and green forms. Can be found by their singing or sometimes at lights. Difficult to find during the day, as they are well camouflaged.
Conocephalini:
Conocephalus--Lesser Meadow Katydids: body usually less than 20 mm long (sometimes to 27 mm) and slender, wings usually do not extend past tip of abdomen, ovipositor straight
Orchelimum--Greater Meadow Katydids: body usually more than 20 mm long (to 42 mm), more robust, wings usually extend past tip of abdomen, ovipositor curved upward

Copiphorini:
wings extend beyond abdomen (except in genus Belocephalus)
cone of head separated from face by prominent gap (except in Bucrates)
cone variably straight-pointed, bent-pointed, or round-tipped, depending on species
Range
World-wide; in N. America, most species are east of Rockies or in south. Coneheads are mostly absent from cold-winter arid regions.
Habitat
grassy or reedy areas
Food
Females typically feed at night on seedheads of grasses.
Print References
(3)(4)
Works Cited
1.Singing Insects of North America
2.Orthoptera Species File Online
3.How to Know the Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Their Allies
Jacques R. Helfer. 1962. Wm. C. Brown Company.
4.Orthoptera of Michigan
Roger Bland. 2003. Michigan State University Extension.