Common True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia)
Song of a woodland full of Common True Katydids (scroll down for explanation and additional recordings!).
The only species in the genus Pterophylla, the Common True Katydid (formerly called Northern True Katydid) is the insect that everyone associates with the name “katydid.” This species is large, bright green, and bulky in appearance. Even though its forewings are large, the Common True Katydid is incapable of flight. The males have a dark brown stridulatory field. It is extremely difficult to capture these katydids because they are usually high up in trees, especially oaks, and they blend well with their surroundings. During the breeding season, however, they may sometimes be found walking across roads, moving in the direction of dense choruses.
Song: One of the loudest among North American katydids — the forewings of males bow out slightly to create a resonance chamber that intensifies their
calls. Songs are composed of harsh broadband notes that are loudest at 3–5 kHz but that extend all the way to 20 kHz and beyond. Songs are given from dusk into the night, with males singing from perches high in deciduous or coniferous trees. They often form huge choruses, their combined songs drowning out nearly all other sounds. When there are many males in a location, each joins one or the other of two singing groups. Males within each group synchronize their songs while the two groups alternate their songs, thus creating a resounding pulsation of sound that can overwhelm the listener. The night choruses of katydids actually frightened early Pilgrims, who had never experienced such sounds. When temperatures drop, males sing more slowly, with songs taking on a creaking or groaning quality.
There are three different populations or subspecies (indicated by different colors in the range map), each having a different calling pattern. Across the northern half of the range, katydids sing songs usually comprised of 2–3 harsh pulses delivered at a leisurely rate: ch-ch . . . ch-ch-ch . . . ch-ch-ch . . . (often likened to the words ka-ty or ka-ty-did). In the southeastern portion of the range, songs are comprised of 3–5 pulses that are delivered more rapidly, making each song sound like a brief rattle. In the southwestern part of the range, individuals sing slowly, with only 1–2 pulses comprising each song. The sonagram below depicts songs from the northern population.
Sonogram of a Common True Katydid singing at ~75F. © Wil Hershberger.
Other Sound Examples:
On cold evenings Common True Katydids sing very slowly. Once the temperatures drops below 52F, they stop singing. Listen to these males singing at 55F:
August 2000, Berkeley Co., WV. ©Wil Hershberger
Common True 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