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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids (Orthoptera) » Long-horned Orthoptera (Ensifera) » Katydids, Camel Crickets, and relatives (Tettigoniidea) » Katydids (Tettigoniidae) » Coneheads and Meadow Katydids (Conocephalinae) » Meadow Katydids (Conocephalini) » Lesser Meadow Katydids (Conocephalus)

Genus Conocephalus - Lesser Meadow Katydids

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Katydid - Conocephalus brevipennis - male ID help please - Conocephalus brevipennis - male grasshopper or katydid? - Conocephalus fasciatus - female Meadow Katydid - Conocephalus strictus - male Conocephalus brevipennis (?) - Conocephalus brevipennis - male Meadow Katydid species? - Conocephalus brevipennis - male Meadow Kadydid - Conocephalus brevipennis - male katydid - Conocephalus strictus? - Conocephalus - 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 Conocephalini (Meadow Katydids)
Genus Conocephalus (Lesser Meadow Katydids)
Other Common Names
Smaller Meadow Katydids
Explanation of Names
Conocephalus Thunberg, 1815
Numbers
Arnett, p. 162, (1) and nearctica.com list 18 species.
Size
10-27 mm (head to tip of wings), body length 12-17 mm
Identification
See Singing Insects of North America. Compare the usually larger, chunkier Greater Meadow Katydids, Orchelimum. Females of Conocephalus usually have straight ovipositors, while female Orchelimum have curved ovipositors. Many Conocephalus seem to have a clear green "face", while many Orchelimum have some white mottling or other coloration such as red.
Range
widely dist. (BG data)
Habitat
Fields, meadows
Season
Late summer to frost. July-October (Michigan, North Carolina), some species later in year in south.
Food
Food habits similar to Orchelimum--feed on leaves, flowers, seeds, and pollen of forbs and grasses. Occasionally predaceous on other insects, less so than Orchelimum. (2)
Life Cycle
Females oviposit in grass-stems. One generation per year.
See Also
Greater Meadow Katydids, Orchelimum
Print References
Arnett, p. 162 (1)
Bland, pp. 146-150 (2)
Capinera, pp. 181-182, plate 40 (3)
Helfer, p. 266, figs. 409-410 (4)
Brimley, p. 20 (5)
Borror and White, pp. 82-83, plate 2--C. brevipennis (6)
Rehn JAG, Hebard M. 1915. Studies in American Tettigoniidae. V. A synopsis of the species of the genus Conocephalus (Xiphidium of authors) found in North America north of Mexico. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 41: 155-224. See reference page at SINA for a pdf version.
Internet References
Singing Insects of North America: genus page, species list, synonym list.
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Orthoptera of Michigan
Roger Bland. 2003. Michigan State University Extension.
3.Field Guide To Grasshoppers, Katydids, And Crickets Of The United States
John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker. 2004. Cornell University Press.
4.How to Know the Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Their Allies
Jacques R. Helfer. 1962. Wm. C. Brown Company.
5.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
6.A Field Guide to Insects
Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson. 1998. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Contributed by Cotinis on 13 September, 2004 - 9:15pm
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, Chuck Sexton, T. Hedlund
Last updated 10 June, 2020 - 4:32pm

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