Sword-bearing conehead

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Sword-bearing conehead, also called swordbearer, is a common, large, meadow katydid.

The male is 1¾″ to 2 3 ⁄16″ in length, the female 2 1 ⁄16″ to 2½″. Both males and females have two color phases. On green phase individuals the thorax, abdomen, wings, and femurs are leaf green. There is a narrow yellowish edging on the plate covering the thorax (prothoracic shield) and on the front wing. On brown phase individuals the body is dark tan with black speckling on the wings. The female ovipositor is as long or longer than the body, and is curved, sword-like, which gives this species its common name.

The top of the head extends well beyond the first segment of the antennae, forming the “cone” which gives this tribe its common name. The cone is pinched in at the sides and separated from the head by a gap. It is rounded at the tip and the lower surface is edged with black.

The antennae are long, slender, and hair-like. They are much longer than the body.

The wings are narrow and long, extending beyond the end of the abdomen. They have fewer than 8 longitudinal veins. The front wings slope over the sides of the body, with only a small portion near the base being horizontal. The male has sound-producing organs, a raised hardened vein at the anal edge of the right front wing (scraper) and a toothed vein (file) near the base of the left front wing.

The last segments of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has four segments.

Size

Male: 1¾″ to 2 3 ⁄16″

Female: 2 1 ⁄16″ to 2½″

Song

The song of the male is distinctive. It is often compared to the sound of a distant locomotive. It is a continuous series of high-pitched lisps, clearly separated, produced at the rate of 10 per second.

Similar Species

Habitat

Moderately moist grassy areas

Ecology

Season

July to September

Behavior

They are strong fliers. They sometimes come to lights.

By rubbing the file against the scraper the male produces a high-pitched lisping song. At low temperatures nearby males synchronize their lisps.

They are often heard at night but seldom seen in daylight. During the day they perch head down on the lower stalk of vegetation with only their wings and hindlegs visible, appearing like a grass blade. At night females can be found near calling males feeding on the seedhead of a grass plant.

Life Cycle

The female uses her long ovipositor to inject eggs into the crown of grass clumps. Most of the eggs overwinter. In the spring the nymphs feed on grass flowers and developing seeds.

Nymph Food

Grass flowers and developing seeds

Adult Food

Seeds of grasses and sometimes sedges.

Distribution

Sources

7, 24, 27, 30, 82, 83.

Neoconocephalus ensiger (Harris, 1841) in Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Abreu, C., Acero P, A., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (2026-07-17 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgykv

Hebard, Morgan. (1932). The Orthoptera of Minnesota. University of Minnesota. Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/204015.