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Excerpts from Jim Conrad's
Naturalist Newsletter
from the March 31, 2007 Newsletter issued from Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, QUERÉTARO, MÉXICO
A GIANT KATYDID
That's its English Name -- "Giant Katydid," as opposed to the usual North American just-plain "Katydid" or "Common True Katydid." You can see the Giant Katydid I found this week hanging on the Reserve's bathroom door and then transferred to the woods below:
You might enjoy seeing if you can spot how it differs from the "Common True Katydid" found in much of eastern North America, shown at http://bugguide.net/node/view/27886.
One big difference is noticeable in the architecture of the back area just behind the head. In bug classification, such differences mean a lot. Our giant species is about three inches long.
Anyway, this Giant Katydid I'm talking about is STILPNOCHLORA COULONIANA, a member of the "False Katydid Subfamily," the Phaneropterinae, not the "True Katydid Subfamily," the Pseudophyllinae. To see a list of over 350 katydid types found north of Mexico, each species name linked to picture, go to http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/katylist.htm.
If your computer can digest WAV files (most PCs can) you can hear our Giant Katydid stridulating at http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/081sl.wav.
Compare that to the "Southeastern Common True" call at http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/141sl2.wav.
What a treat to see this tropical, Mexican variation on the Yankee species I grew up with!