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Species Pterophylla camellifolia - Common True Katydid
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 Pseudophyllinae (True Katydids)
Genus Pterophylla
Species camellifolia (Common True Katydid)
Other Common Names Northern Katydid, Rough-winged Katydid, True Katydid Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Pterophylla camellifolia ( Fabricius)
Orig. Comb: Locusta camellifolia Fabricius 1775
Syn: Pterophylla furcata Caudell, 1906 – considered a jr. syn. per SINA Explanation of Names Species name from Greek camelo camel, plus Latin folius (?) a leaf (1), referring to the shape of the wings, presumably--held over the back to form a camel-like hump(?). Identification Forewings form cup over abdomen, many conspicuous veins. Pronotum has two shallow grooves. Both sexes stridulate "katy-did, katy-didn't" at dusk into night. Song varies geographically.
Range e US (mostly: TX-FL-MA-IA) - Map - SINA Habitat Deciduous forests--often heard, but seldom seen, since mostly lives in forest canopy. Season Midsummer to frost. July-October (Michigan), July-September, or November (North Carolina) Food Foliage of deciduous trees and shrubs as well. In captivity, they will eat oak, bramble, and leatherleaf viburnum. Life Cycle Eggs are inserted into loose bark or young stems of trees and hatch in spring. One brood per year. Both sexes stridulate, males more loudly. Song varies geographically. Flightless, but may glide to lower branches of trees (2). Sometimes seen perched on shrubs. Does not come to lights frequently (pers. obs., P. Coin). Remarks One of the few North American insects, perhaps, memorialized in verse. Below is an excerpt from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.'s poem, To an Insect (1831), full text available from Project Gutenberg:
I LOVE to hear thine earnest voice,
Wherever thou art hid,
Thou testy little dogmatist,
Thou pretty Katydid
.... See Also Microcentrum - Angle-wing Katydids
Amblycorypha - Round-headed Katydids Print References Borror, entries for camelo, folius (1)
Elliott and Hershberger, pp. 134-137 (4)
Helfer, p. 264, fig. 405 (5)Works Cited | 1. | Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company. |  |
| 2. | Orthoptera of Michigan
Roger Bland. 2003. Michigan State University Extension. | |
| 3. | Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture. | |
| 4. | The Songs of Insects
Lang Elliott, Wil Hershberger. 2007. Houghton Mifflin. | |
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