Songs of Insects

Slender Meadow Katydid (Conocephalus fasciatus)

Song of a Slender Meadow Katydid (scroll down for explanation and additional recordings!).

Named for its slender appearance, the Slender Meadow Katydid has long and narrow wings that extend well beyond its posterior. Its coat is a striking combination of green and brown. Broadly distributed, but found very locally, seemingly in colonies. There appears to be a cline in body size across the country, with the smallest forms in the Northeast and the largest in the Southwest. To actually find a singing male by homing in on his faint high pitched song is a challenge. Quiet, warm, sunny afternoons are the best time to attempt this. Males are more easily collected by using an insect sweep net in areas of tall grass.

Slender Meadow Katydid

Left cercus from above.

Slender Meadow Katydids range from northern Maine, south through Florida, west through New Mexico, and back north to western Montana and into souther Canada.

Song: An evenly spaced series of clicks or tsips followed by a faint, clicking purr or trill, at a frequency of 10–20 kHz. Song is pleasing to the ear, but difficult to hear because it is exceedingly high and soft. If you happen to be sitting quietly in a grassy field with Slender Meadow Katydids, you usually become aware of them through this soft purring song. At first it is as if you are feeling the song rather than hearing it.
 
Sonogram of a Slender Meadow Katydid. © Wil Hershberger.