 Pictures of an adult female brown morph Mediterranean katydid (Phaneroptera nana). Originated from eggs laid by captive reared wild-caught females of Summer 2016. Our last Mediterranean katydid (Phaneroptera nana) molted to adult today and, as it was before, is a rare brown morph. In the pictures, it still wasn't not completely dried yet, so the antennae and legs are a bit pale.  Authors
Brian Liang
Comments
 Today we took some pictures of our sixth instar Mediterranean katydids (Phaneroptera nana). Originated from eggs laid by captive reared wild-caught females of Summer 2016. Just like with the Mexican bush katydids (Scudderia mexicana), we haven't been keeping up with these very well this year. We have been rearing the two species side by side so when we took the mexicana out to photograph, we also took these out. They are currently in sixth instar and very close to molting to adult. This mexicana have already been adults for several days but these hatched later (which is consistent with when and what age we usually find them in the wild). Although we have so few of them this year, we still managed to pull our luck with a brown morph. It looks like it's going to be mostly brown as an adult too. The only problem is that it has a broken hindleg. . . A green morph is also shown below.  Authors
Brian Liang  We found an adult female Mediterranean katydid (Phaneroptera nana) in our front yard. We haven't been going really crazy with katydids this year, although we are still rearing a handful that hatched from last year's eggs. I'm sure that if we had tried, we could have easily caught a ton of them. In fact, we have already encountered several katydids throughout this year that we didn't bother to catch. As the summer progresses, we are started to hear some katydid chirping. Today we even came across an adult female Mediterranean katydid (Phaneroptera nana) in our front yard on thistle. Not too common of a sight, even if the species is common. It stayed there for many hours without changing spots. Perhaps it was eating the flowers (because the leaves don't seem edible)?  Authors
Brian 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 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: 9/24:
9/21:
9/17: 9/6:
9/3:
8/28: 8/27:
8/24:
8/23:
- 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 eighth installment of our rearing notes for Mediterranean Katydids (Phaneroptera nana) from 8/11-8/18. Rearing Notes 8/11-8/18: 8/18: Nothing significant worth noting. 8/17:
8/16:
8/14-15: Nothing significant worth noting. 8/13:
8/12:
8/11:
- Brian
 The seventh installment of our rearing notes for Mediterranean Katydids (Phaneroptera nana) from 8/3-8/10. Rearing Notes and Stats 8/3-8/10: 8/10:
8/9:
8/8:
8/7:
8/5-6: Nothing significant worth noting. 8/4:
8/3:
Stats: Encounters this year: 81+ Locations:
7/10 (overnight): male caught in sixth instar attempted but was killed 7/15 (overnight): two males but one suffers severe injuries of mild cannibalism and the other mismolted 7/16 (overnight): two females; one mismolted and has wings that dried in the wrong position 7/17 (overnight): one male and one female 7/18 (overnight): one male mismolted and is dead 7/19 (overnight): one female 7/20 (overnight): two males 7/21 (overnight): one male and one female 7/22 (overnight): one male 7/23 (overnight): one brown morph female 7/24 (overnight): four females; two mismolted and have wings that dried in the wrong position; one of them also has a bent hind leg and antenna 7/25 (overnight): two males 7/26 (overnight): two males 7/27 (overnight): one male 7/28 (overnight): one male 7/29 (overnight): one female 7/31 (overnight): one brown morph male 8/1 (overnight): one male and one female; the female mismolted and has crippled wings 8/2 (overnight): one female - Brian
 The sixth installment of our rearing notes for Mediterranean Katydids (Phaneroptera nana) from 7/26-8/2. Rearing Notes and Stats 7/26-8/2: 8/2:
8/1:
7/31:
7/30:
7/29:
7/28:
7/27:
7/26:
Stats: Encounters this year: 81+ Locations:
7/10 (overnight): male caught in sixth instar attempted but was killed 7/15 (overnight): two males but one suffers severe injuries of mild cannibalism and the other mismolted 7/16 (overnight): two females; one mismolted and has wings that dried in the wrong position 7/17 (overnight): one male and one female 7/18 (overnight): one male mismolted and is dead 7/19 (overnight): one female 7/20 (overnight): two males 7/21 (overnight): one male and one female 7/22 (overnight): one male 7/23 (overnight): one brown morph female 7/24 (overnight): four females; two mismolted and have wings that dried in the wrong position; one of them also has a bent hind leg and antenna 7/25 (overnight): two males 7/26 (overnight): two males 7/27 (overnight): one male 7/28 (overnight): one male 7/29 (overnight): one female 7/31 (overnight): one brown morph male 8/1 (overnight): one male and one female; the female mismolted and has crippled wings 8/2 (overnight): one female - Brian
 Today, just as we had seen a few days ago with the Mexican Bush Katydids (Scuderria mexicana), one of our adult female Mediterranean Katydid (Phaneroptera nana) was carrying a nice spermatophoryx on its genitalia when we checked this morning! According to our stats in the P. nana rearing notes, we should currently have a total of 13 live adult male and 10 live adult female Mediterranean Katydids (Phaneroptera nana) though two of the males and three of the females suffer from some sort of imperfection such as broken or cannibalized limbs and mismolted wings. In addition, a few more could have molted into adult inside the enclosure without us knowing since it is difficult to keep track of all of the sixth instars with thick wing buds and are ready to molt. But no matter what, there are enough individuals in that enclosure to get some action going for a while now. Unlike our eight Mexican Bush Katydids (Scuderria mexicana), it would be a painful task to search out all of the adult females every morning to see if any mating had occurred. The best that we usually do each day is just take a glance and investigate every adult that we come across but not actually keeping track of how many we checked. It is very possible that we may have already missed a few matings, but if we did not today was the first day that it happened. This morning around 8:30 AM when went out to check, we found a female (one in perfect condition) sitting at the top of the enclosure with a little gelatinous spermatophoryx attached right below her ovipositor on her genitalia. Though it shouldn't be a surprise because Mediterranean Katydids are much smaller in size than the Mexican Bush Katydids (nana is derived from Greek "nanos" meaning dwarf), the spermatophoryx was puny! Just a tiny little four-sacked blob unlike the massive jello cake on the Mexican Bush Katydid. According to multiple sources, Mediterranean Katydids insert their eggs into leaf tissue as reflected by the shape of the female's ovipositor (relatively wide, flat, and slightly curved) and the shape of the eggs themselves (ovular and flat). At this point it is simply a waiting game to see when or whether our mated females will lay the eggs readily in the enclosure on the leaves of the blue morning glory vine (Ipomoea acuminata). - Brian
|
Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
August 2017 (49) July 2017 (121) June 2017 (79) May 2017 (77) April 2017 (91) March 2017 (35) February 2017 (12) January 2017 (10) December 2016 (12) November 2016 (26) October 2016 (49) September 2016 (84) August 2016 (94) July 2016 (99) June 2016 (53) May 2016 (21) April 2016 (4) January 2016 (1) August 2015 (3) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (2) June 2014 (3) May 2014 (1) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (3) December 2013 (2) November 2013 (2) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (11) August 2013 (15) July 2013 (9) June 2013 (5) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (3) March 2013 (2) February 2013 (3) January 2013 (2) December 2012 (2) November 2012 (1) October 2012 (2) September 2012 (2) August 2012 (5) July 2012 (1) June 2012 (1) Authors
Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |
