PEST PROFILES: MISCELLANEOUS CHEWING PESTS

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Katydid Eggs Click on image to view larger.

Katydids Description: Adults are large (1 - 2 1/8 inches long) with short front wings (tegmina) and therefore are flightless. The body is reddish-brown and marked with greenish-brown although the tegmina are marked with reddish and black spots and each abdominal segment is marked with a row of light dots. Damage: The main food plants of katydids are forbs (i.e., sunflowers, blanket flower, ragweed, cotton, lettuce, and feverfew), although they will also consume live or dead insects. They are usually found in weedy vegetation along roadways, vacant lots and field margins in areas with rocky or gravely soil. Life cycle: Eggs are oviposited in the ground in pods of about 20 eggs. Wingless nymphs hatch in late spring or early summer and develop through 5 instars. Adults occur throughout summer and fall.