Northern Bush Katydid
Scudderia septentrionalis
Identification 6
Scudderia have long narrow wings and long legs that extend far above the wings like Amblycorypha species, but their wings are not so broad. Coneheads may initially seem similar but they have a slanted face. The male supra-anal plate is reduced to nearly nothing in S. septentrionalis, such that the terminalia species for this species look nothing like other Scudderia species.
Resources 6
Scudderia supra-anal plates: https://orthsoc.org/sina/g060a.htm
Blatchley, W. S. 1920. Orthoptera of Northeastern America: With Especial Reference to the Faunas of Indiana and Florida. Nature Publishing Company, Indianapolis, IN. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/1700
Occurrence 6
Statewide. Occurs in the northern eastern U.S., through New England and the Midwest. Blatchely (1920) reported this as a "very scarce" species and Froeschner also reported but a handful of specimens. However, it is commonly reported in iNaturalist. It is not clear if this represents a change in abundance over the past 100 years. It may be that they were always common and only now are seen more often as they are attracted to lights at night.
Habitat 6
Blatchley (1920) reported that most specimens were taken from undergrowth in deciduous forests. BugGuide states that it occurs in the canopies of deciduous forest. Many sightings in iNaturalist appear to come from individuals attracted to lights at night.
Sources and Credits
- (c) David Kaposi, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by David Kaposi
- no rights reserved, uploaded by Kent McFarland
- (c) joannerusso, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by joannerusso
- (c) Zac Cota, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Zac Cota
- (c) Stan Rullman, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Stan Rullman
- (c) Tyler Grant, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
