Today we found a Mexican bush katydid (Scudderia mexicana) nymph at Albany Hill (Albany, California).

Every year in late Spring and early Summer we are bound to encounter a few wild Mexican bush katydids (Scudderia mexicana) nymphs randomly hanging out on herbivore-friendly shrubs, vines, or trees. We have already captured a number of very young nymphs earlier this year on top of having some of our eggs from last year hatch so we now are rearing a number of them. 

Today we found another one on the bramble growing near the playground at Albany Hill. It looks to be L4. After taking a few shots, we captured it with a petri dish and brought it home.  

Its good to know that the Mexican bush katydid population is still going strong in the wild. It isn't that they aren't common; each year during the fall we can hear males chirping on every block. The problem is that the introduced Mediterranean katydids (Phaneroptera nana), an extremely similar species, seem to have become increasingly common over the years and now we are finding them in places that used to only be inhabited by the mexicana​. We have nothing against the introduced species but it would be a shame if the pushed out the native species. 

​Authors
Brian Liang

We see a least a few of these pallid-winged grasshoppers every year here in late Spring/early Summer. They are quite common, usually encountered on the ground both in the city and in undisturbed areas like under the subway tracks or along Cerrito Creek. They are difficult to spot though due to their masterful camouflage and are difficult to catch as they are extremely strong fliers. This one shot off into the air and was never seen again when we took it out to release and photograph. 

​Authors
Alan Liang

Our first Mediterranean katydid (Phaneroptera nana) hatched today. The egg was laid by captive females, Summer 2016.

Just as our Mexican bush katydid have been beginning to hatch, so too have our Mediterranean. We only had a few eggs saved from last year and we weren't sure if any were still alive, but out popped one today. It is extremely small, probably only about two-thirds the size of newborn Scudderia mexicana. It is yellowish green with a yellow head and blackish legs. We placed it in the same container as our mexicanas with some rose petals and plum leaves.

​Authors
Alan Liang

Our Mexican bush katydids (Scudderia mexicana) eggs from last year have begun to hatch.

Last year in late summer we collected over a hundred Mexican bush katydids (Scudderia mexicana) eggs laid by a handful of females that we had painstakingly captured, reared, and mated from nymphal stages. Many of the eggs were inserted into leaves or flower petals, probably the most natural location for oviposition in the wild, but it seems that many of these eggs had desiccated along with the leaf over the months sitting a petri dish. A number of eggs were, however, deposited in plastic tape that were apart of the mesh cage that the females were housed in that didn't seem to face this problem. 

A few weeks ago, we noticed that the eggs in the tape were becoming noticeably plumper and pinkish in color. On this 5/13 post, we got a few shots of the eggs that show the developing katydids and it was quite evident that they were going to hatch very soon. 

The first of the eggs finally hatched today - three of them. They hatch by breaking the egg (which is very flat) with a sharp horn on their heads some place where the two disk-shaped halves of the eggshell come together. The newly emerged katydids are a pale pink which is the same color as the developing eggs (the eggs are probably translucent). After a few hours, they eventually tan into a dirty brownish pink. 

After we consolidated the newborns with the two nymphs (one first instar and one second instar) we have, we noticed that the newborns were unwilling to settle down. Whereas the older nymphs rarely stray from the food source, the newborns consistently crawled to the lid of the container. Like most newborn caterpillar that take a day before settling down on host plant, this behavior is probably designed to get them to find a suitable living place considering that eggs in the wild are probably located in all kinds of obscure places on the ground. 

Rearing notes for our Mexican bush katydids (Scudderia mexicana). These were collected as nymphs in northern California, May 2017.

Rearing Notes 5/14/17-5/??/17:

See Found a Newborn Scudderia Mexicana

​Authors
Alan Liang

We have found a newborn Mexican bush katydid (Scudderia mexicana).

Well this is quite odd. Just yesterday we were looking at our Scudderia mexicana eggs that we had collected from our captive females lasts summer in a petri dish, and had observed that they were near hatching. Well, today we found a newborn nymph, but it wasn't from these eggs. The katydid was inside the cage we had used to house the captive females last year and are currently using for our lineatas and achemons. It was resting on the grape cuttings we had put in for the moths and could've only gotten in the cage by hatching out of an egg lodged in some corner of the cage by the captive females last year. It seems, then, that the wild and captive eggs in the petri dish are quite in synch, as they are hatching around the same time. Also, historically, May has always been when have begun finding the young katydid nymphs of this species. 

The newborn katydid is very small and orangish brown, decorated in many black spots and other colors. The antennae are very long and have alternating white and black sections. The hind legs are very long and thin. We remember seeing nymphs like this in past years, but were never quite sure if it was the first instar or not, but apparently it is; they can't possibly get smaller than this when given the size of the egg.

For now, we haven't done anything with the katydid and plan to just leave it in the cage and feed on the grapes. Maybe when it gets larger we'll have to get some larger plants for it.

Some of our Mexican bush katydid (Scudderia mexicana) eggs have begun showing visible signs of development and are near hatching. These were laid by captive raised females collected in northern California, Summer 2016.

It's been many months since we obtained Scudderia mexicana eggs from our captive reared females last summer. We had collected the many dozens of eggs in a small petri dish and neglected it over the months, not giving it any special care whatsoever. Well, unfortunately it looks like we should have took better care as upon checking on them recently, it appears many are probably dried out. However, looking closer, however, it became clear that a few were developing and going to hatch soon!

The developing eggs are pinkish and have a groove on the side between the katydid's head and leg. The katydid can already be clearly seen through egg shell when inspected up close, and it is quite interesting how compactly it is positioned in the egg. The body is curled, with the large hind legs folded up and meeting the head. Opening one revealed a yellow katydid that was probably close to fully developed, as it was quite solid already.

​Authors
Alan Liang

Rearing notes for the Mediterranean Katydid (Phaneroptera nana) that we found as a second instar on 7/26.

Rearing Notes 8/23/16-9/24/16:

- Brian

Today we discovered our first Mediterranean Katydid (Phaneroptera nana) eggs; also an update on our Mexican Bush Katydid (Scudderia mexicana) eggs.

Today while we were moving our Mediterranean Katydids (Phaneroptera nana) our of their enclosure, we discovered three eggs laid in the potted blue morning glory (Ipomoea acuminata) inside. A little sad that there were only three, actually, considering that there are over ten females in there and at least one of them gets mated every day for many weeks now (I'd imagine that every single one is fertile by now!). Like the related Phaneropterinae Mexican Bush Katydid (Scuderria mexicana), the eggs were inserted between the epidermal layers of the leaf. They are slightly smaller than the Mexican Bush Katydid eggs (shown side by side in the right image with the Mediterranean eggs on the right), proportional to the size of the ovipositer, which, in turn, is related to the significantly smaller body of the Mediterranean Katydid. 

As an update on our Mexican Bush Katydid eggs, we collected another 21 of them today, making a total of 101 eggs so far. And this is all by the work of four females at the most. If they all hatch next spring, we shall be swamped!

- Brian

The sixth installment of our rearing notes for the native Mexican Bush Katydids (Scudderia mexicana) from 8/11-8/19.

​Rearing Notes and Stats 8/11-8/19:

- Brian