curve-tailed bush katydid

(Scudderia curvicauda)

Conservation Status
curve-tailed bush katydid
Photo by Bill Reynolds
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Curve-tailed bush katydid may be the most common large bush katydid. Adult males are 17 16 to 1 in total length. Females are slightly smaller.

The head is oval. The eyes are round and protruding. The antennae are thread-like and longer than the wings. They are attached close together high on the face. The space between them is narrower than the length of the basal segment of the antennae. The forehead does not project forward between the antennae.

The thorax, abdomen, wings, and femurs are pale grass green. The body is to 1 long. The upper side (dorsum) does not have a brown stripe.

The wings are 1to 17 16 long. The forewings (tegmina) are longer than the abdomen and longer than the hindwing. They are narrow, more than four times but less than six times as long as wide at their widest point; green, rarely with black marks; rounded at the tip; and have a single shallow angle near the base.

The front legs are much shorter than the hind legs. The femur of the hind leg is long, extending to the last (distal most) quarter of the outer wing.

On the male, the structure below the genitalia (subgenital plate) is conspicuous, elongated, Y-shaped, and arched upward.

On the female the ovipositor is abruptly curved upward.

Curve-tailed bush katydid (S. c. curvicauda) range extends into Minnesota. It is relatively large, 1 to 1in total length.

Northern curve-tailed bush katydid (S. c. borealis) may occur in Minnesota. It is relatively small, 17 16 to 19 16 in total length.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: 17 16 to 1

 
     
 

Song

 
 
Listen to curve-tailed bush katydid
 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Woodlands, deciduous forests

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

Late spring to autumn. One generation per year.

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

After mating, the female lays eggs either in a double row on a slender twig or between the upper and lower outer surfaces of a leaf. The eggs overwinter and hatch in the spring.

 
     
 

Nymph Food

 
 

Plant juices

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

Leaves and tender twigs of a variety of plants.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 82.

The Orthoptera of Minnesota, Volumes 76-90, University of Minnesota, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1932, p. 58.

 
  9/9/2023      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids)  
 

Suborder

Ensifera (katydids, crickets, and allies)  
  Infraorder Tettigoniidea (katydids, wētā, and allies)  
 

Superfamily

Tettigonioidea  
 

Family

Tettigoniidae (katydids)  
 

Subfamily

Phaneropterinae (leaf katydids)  
 

Tribe

Scudderiini  
 

Genus

Scudderia (Scudder’s bush katydids)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

broad-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia curvicauda laticauda)

curve-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia curvicauda curvicauda)

northern curve-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia curvicauda borealis) (?)

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Locusta curvicauda

Phaneroptera anfustifolia

Phaneroptera curvicauda

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

curve-tailed bush katydid

narrow-winged katydid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Femur

In insects, the largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. In humans, the thigh bone.

 

Subgenital plate

In male Orthoptera, the plate-like structure extending from the lower (ventral) side of the end of the abdomen underlying the genitalia.

 

Tegmen

The modified, leathery front wing of grasshoppers and related insects that protects the hindwing. It may also serve as a camouflage, a defensive display, or a sound board. Plural: tegmina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

Share your photo of this insect.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.
 
 

Bonnie

 
 

curve-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia curvicauda) or broad-winged bush katydid (Scudderia pistillata)

Sun’s glare lost detail (It was trapped under a tarp, maybe loss of darker color?)

  curve-tailed bush katydid  
 

Kerry

 
    curve-tailed bush katydid      
 

Kirk Nelson

 
    curve-tailed bush katydid      
 

Holly

 
    curve-tailed bush katydid      
 

Bill Reynolds

 
    curve-tailed bush katydid   curve-tailed bush katydid  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
 
     
     

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

Share your video of this mammal.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.
 
 

Kerry

 
  MN Curve-tail Katydid
Jul 27, 2022
 
   
 
About

curve-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia curvicauda)
Eating my Gerbera...
7/27/2022
Saint Cloud, Stearns County
Video by Kerry
http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/curve-tailed_bush_katydid.html

   
       
 
Other Videos
 
     
     
     

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
  Bonnie
9/8/2023

Location: Hennepin County

curve-tailed bush katydid (Scudderia curvicauda) or broadwinged bush katydid (Scudderia pistillata)

Sun’s glare lost detail (It was trapped under a tarp, maybe loss of darker color?)

curve-tailed bush katydid  
  Kerry
7/27/2022

Location: Saint Cloud, Stearns County

curve-tailed bush katydid  
  Kirk Nelson
8/11/2018

Location: Near the Visitors’ Center, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

curve-tailed bush katydid  
  Holly
7/8/2018

Location: Plymouth

curve-tailed bush katydid  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

 

 

 

 

Binoculars


Created 11/3/2013

Last Updated:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved.