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Genus Conocephalus - Lesser Meadow Katydids
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 (2) 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) 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. (3)Life Cycle Females oviposit in grass-stems. One generation per year. Print References Capinera, pp. 181-182, plate 40 (4)
Helfer, p. 266, figs. 409-410 (5)
Borror and White, pp. 82-83, plate 2--C. brevipennis (7)
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 | 2. | Nomina Insecta Nearctica
Poole, Robert W. Nearctica.com, Inc. | |
| 3. | Orthoptera of Michigan
Roger Bland. 2003. Michigan State University Extension. | |
| 4. | Field Guide To Grasshoppers, Katydids, And Crickets Of The United States
John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker. 2004. Cornell University Press. |  |
| 6. | Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture. | |
| 7. | A Field Guide to Insects
Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson. 1998. Houghton Mifflin Co. |  |
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