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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) » Quiet-calling Katydids (Meconematinae) » Meconema » Drumming Katydid (Meconema thalassinum)

Species Meconema thalassinum - Drumming Katydid

drumming katydid - Meconema thalassinum - female katydid - Meconema thalassinum - female Drumming Katydid - Meconema thalassinum - male Drumming Katydid - Meconema thalassinum - female Orthoptera? - Meconema thalassinum - female Meconema thalassinum - female Green Bug - Meconema thalassinum - male Green katydid? - Meconema thalassinum - 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 Meconematinae (Quiet-calling Katydids)
Genus Meconema
Species thalassinum (Drumming Katydid)
Other Common Names
Oak Bush-Cricket, Sea-Green Katydid, Méconème Tambourinaire
Explanation of Names
At William Whitaker's Words, "thalassinum" translates to "sea-green".
Size
14 - 19 mm
Identification
A tiny, sea-green katydid with a tympanum fully exposed on each foretibia. Forewings longer than hindwings. No stridulatory area apparent at base of male forewings. Male cerci long, slender, tubular, curving upwards (1).
Range
Europe. Introduced into North America; currently Michigan & Ohio east to Atlantic coast; sw. British Columbia to w. Oregon, and likely still expanding. See also BugGuide range map for an indication of the expansion of the range into neighboring states.
Habitat
Deciduous trees and the vegetation beneath.
Season
July-November
Food
Mainly aphids
Life Cycle
One generation per year; overwinters as eggs laid in bark crevices.
Remarks
This species calls by drumming the hind tarsus on a leaf (1)
Commonly preyed upon by wasps in the genus Isodontia.
See Also
M. meridionale - like M. thalassinum but with tiny wings
Internet References
Singing Insects of North America has lots of info, range maps, and even a chart of the drumming sequence.
Works Cited
1.Guide to Night-Singing Insects of the Northeast
Michael DiGiorgio & John Himmelman. 2009. Stackpole Books.
Contributed by Tony DiTerlizzi on 17 October, 2004 - 5:18pm
Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-Mason, Ethan Kistler, David Ferguson, Harsi S. Parker, metrioptera
Last updated 8 November, 2019 - 8:23am

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