''Pterophylla camellifolia'', the common true katydid, is a common North American insect in the family

Tettigoniidae Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...

(katydids). Within the Tettigoniidae, it belongs to the subfamily Pseudophyllinae (true katydids). Other common names include northern true katydid and rough-winged katydid. The loud, rasping, three-pulsed song, rendered "''ka-ty-did''", of the male of the nominate northern subspecies is the source of the vernacular name "''katydid''” as applied to any tettigoniid. It is a nearly flightless species that, in contrast with other katydids, often walks, runs, or hops rather than leaping or flying. It lives in the canopy of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees, where it feeds on the foliage. It can reach up to in length.

Song

The singing rate is temperature dependent. Four populations of this species can be distinguished by song characteristics: *The two-, three-, or four-pulsed song of northern populations, as described above; * The faster song with more pulses per phrase, often heard in large, synchronized choruses common to the Southeastern populations; * The one- or two-pulsed song of Southwestern populations; and * A song of 8 to 15 pulses heard only in central Iowa. Pterophylla camellifolia singing.wav, Song at 20°C,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Taxonomy

This species' original scientific name was ''Locusta camellifolia''. The genus ''Pterophylla'' was created for it by Kirby in 1825. Three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized for ''P. camellifolia'': * ''Pterophylla camellifolia camellifolia'' (Fabricius, 1775) – type locality is in the United States * ''Pterophylla camellifolia dentifera'' (Hebard, 1941) – type locality is Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States * ''Pterophylla camellifolia intermedia'' (Caudell, 1906) – type locality is Biloxi, Mississippi, United States

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10645734 Pseudophyllinae Insects described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius