The Common Meadow Katydid

In 1835, Thaddeus W. Harris named this species in his book; A Catalogue of Animals and Plants in Massachusetts. The easiest way to key out Orchelimum vulgare is to look in Jacques Helfer’s book The Grasshopper, Cockroaches and Their Allies on pages 262-265. Figure 408 on page 265 gives a good picture of Orchelimum vulgare.

This species can be found at Georgia’s Natural History Museum, also. The Orchelimum vulgare are medium sized and are a deep green color. The legs are pale brown. The tegmina reaches just beyond the abdomens and the wings are only a slight bit shorter. The femora rarely has any spines on it. ). Figure one shows the difference between the cercus (a paired appendage at the end of the abdomen) of an Orchelimum agile (a) and an Orchelimum vulgare (b). Figure two shows the difference in the pronotum (shield like covering at the front of the thorax) of an Orchelimum agile (a) and an Orchelimum vulgare (b).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Geography

map by Jason Hill

The Orchelimum vulgare is the most common and widespread member of the genus Orchelimum. It's northernmost habitat is from southern Maine into southern Canada. Orchelimum vulgare is found as far south as Macon and throughout northeastern Texas. The species can be found as far west as Wyoming and Colorado (Blatchley 1920).

The Orchelimum vulgare is common in fields and low meadows. It is often found perched on clumps of large grass. The Orchelimum vulgare female bites into several plant stems in order to find a suitable plant to lay her egg in. When she finds a suitable plant, she will bite an eighth of an inch into the stem, then she will turn around and stick her ovipositor into the hole and deposit an egg. The female katydid will then chew the hole back together and begin searching for places to lay her each of her other eggs (Hancock 1904). The common meadow katydid undergoes an incomplete metamorphosis, reaching maturity at the end of July and lives until the beginning of October (Walker 1905). The Orchelimum vulgare makes a song that starts with a "zeeeeeee" for threes seconds, pauses for five, then starts up with a series of "zips". This pattern continues without interruption until night when it changes its note (Dethier 1992). An interesting note about this species is that it appears to be carnivorous on certain occasions. It has been observed eating moths and soldier beetles. Hancock wrote in 1904 that a female captured her mate and "holding his body between her fore legs ate the larger portion of the soft parts, after first eating a hole in the back."

More than likely, this species is found at Sam’s Farm and various fields around Clarke County. Search in meadow with tall grass and listen for their song. Take a net if you would like to take a sample home.