Agile Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum agile)
Song of a Agile Meadow Katydid (scroll down for explanation and additional recordings!).
With its muted green body set against creamy wings and head, the Agile Meadow Katydid is a subtly attractive member of its genus. Prefers open weedy and grassy areas that receive lots of sun. As the common name implies, these katydids are fast and agile. When approached, they first hide by moving to the far side of a stem or leaf. When further threatened, they will quickly jump several times before finally stopping to rest. Even when captured, their sudden, swift movements make them tough to keep in a net or cage.
Agile Meadow Katydids can be found in the piedmont of the eastern US from New Jersey to eastern Texas. However, this species is on the move. Agile Meadow Katydids have been found in several Counties in Ohio. Please see this page and help us track the westward movement of this species.
Song: A rapid series of ticks followed by a dry, buzzy trill of variable length at 8–20 kHz. Loud and easily heard. May give lots of ticks without trills. Sings both day and night.
Other Sound Examples:
Agile Meadow Katydids are showing up farther west every year. Here is a recording of a small colony singing from the cattails at the edge of a pond in western Berkeley Co., WV.
Agile Meadow Katydids singing at the edge of a pond in Berkeley Co., WV on September 3, 2019. 28.3C ©Wil Hershberger.
Sonogram of a Agile Meadow Katydid. © Wil Hershberger.
Agile Meadow Katydid
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Thumbnail Guide to All Species
Navigate to Species Pages:
Spring and Fall Field Cricket
Southern Wood Cricket
Southeastern Field Cricket
Eastern Striped Cricket
Japanese Burrowing Cricket
Ground Crickets (Nemobiinae):
Allard’s Ground Cricket
Carolina Ground Cricket
Confused Ground Cricket
Striped Ground Cricket
Southern Ground Cricket
Sphagnum Ground Cricket
Variegated Ground Cricket
Spotted Ground Cricket
Tinkling Ground Cricket
Cuban Ground Cricket
Tree Crickets (Oecanthinae):
Black-horned Tree Cricket
Forbes’s Tree Cricket
Broad-winged Tree Cricket
Davis’s Tree Cricket
Fast-calling Tree Cricket
Four-spotted Tree Cricket
Narrow-winged Tree Cricket
Pine Tree Cricket
Snowy Tree Cricket
Two-spotted Tree Cricket
Trigs and Bush Crickets (Eneopterinae & Trigonidiinae):
Jumping Bush Cricket
Columbian Trig
Handsome Trig
Say’s Trig
Thomas’s Trig
Slow-tinkling Trig
Mole Crickets (Gryllotalpidae):
Northern Mole Cricket
Southern Mole Cricket
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Saltmarsh Meadow Katydid
Short-winged Meadow Katydid
Slender Meadow Katydid
Woodland Meadow Katydid
Black-sided Meadow Katydid
Long-tailed Meadow Katydid
Straight-lanced Meadow Katydid
Agile Meadow Katydid
Dusky-faced Meadow Katydid
Stripe-faced Meadow Katydid
Nimble Meadow Katydid
Black-legged Meadow Katydid
Common Meadow Katydid
Gladiator Meadow Katydid
Handsome Meadow Katydid
Lesser Pine Meadow Katydid
Long-spurred Meadow Katydid
Red-headed Meadow Katydid
Coneheads (Copiphorinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Round-tipped Conehead
Nebraska Conehead
Robust Conehead
Slightly Musical Conehead
Sword-bearing Conehead
False Robust Conehead
Marsh Conehead
Black-nosed Conehead
True Katydids (Pseudophyllinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Common True Katydid
False Katydids (Phaneropterinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Clicker Round-winged Katydid
Common Virtuoso Katydid
Rattler Round-winged Katydid
Oblong-winged Katydid
Great Angle-wing
Lesser Angle-wing
Broad-winged Bush Katydid
Curved-tailed Bush Katydid
Fork-tailed Bush Katydid
Northern Bush Katydid
Texas Bush Katydid
Treetop Bush Katydid
Modest Katydid
Shield-backed Katydids (Tettigoniinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
American Shieldback
Least Shieldback
Protean Shieldback
Robust Shieldback
Roesel’s Katydid
Band-winged Grasshoppers (Oedipodinae):
Boll’s & Carolina Grasshoppers
Marsh Meadow Grasshopper