Worried...or Impatient?

Broad-winged Bush Katydid male

In recent weeks, people have been writing and posting their worries about there being no crickets this year. I’ve reassured them, as I do annually, that it’s simply been too early for crickets.

But I realized last night that I’m really not immune to such concerns. I have a lot of information and experience, and I know when to expect each of our NE Ohio cricket and katydid species to mature. If they’re late, I start to worry. Is it just the weather? Was it severe thunderstorms washing away and drowning all the nymphs? Pesticides in neighboring fields or developments? Deer damage? Human damage? Insect apocalypse? Climate chaos? There are different collections of concerns for different habitats, but I have a broad repertoire. 

I rather expected that singing insects might be behind schedule this year because of the prolonged cold weather and even snow in May. But I also thought that perhaps the steamy weather in parts of June and July would hurry things along and it would all even out.

Gladiator Meadow Katydids typically mature during the last week of June or the first week of July, but their expected habitats were silent. Broad-winged Bush Katydids are right behind the Gladiators in early July, but I didn’t hear a single individual. In fact, I wasn’t seeing many katydid nymphs, either. I would have expected Carolina Ground Crickets in the second week of July, but there still weren’t any singing in our backyard and they were only just getting started in the field. And where were the Striped and the Allard’s Ground Crickets?

Of course. I knew it. They were all washed away in storms, just as I’d feared. Except… there were still tiny Spring Trigs singing…they didn’t get swept away by anything.

Then it occurred to me that perhaps each time there was a hot summer and katydids and crickets matured early, I tended to make that my new baseline. If singers were not onstage by those early dates, they were late.

Here’s what actually happened in mid-July.

I’m out in the field most nights because I’m doing a survey for the Geauga Park District in NE Ohio. The survey compares species in the NE, SE, and SW corners of the county. Each week, I visit three parks and one property that’s not open to the public, so I’m comparing and fussing over four different locations. 

There were tiny meadow katydid nymphs (above), and sometimes I’d see Scudderia bush katydid nymphs and Amblycorypha nymphs (Rattler-Round-winged and Oblong-winged Katydids - below). I don’t know how they manage to survive storms and heavy rainfall but singing insects have been around since dinosaurs walked the earth. 

 

One property had no adults except for Spring Trigs and Roesel’s Katydids - a small, attractive European shieldback katydid that doesn’t seem to cause any problems for our native species. 

Roesel's Katydid female

But this property should have had lots of Gladiator Meadow katydids and Broad-winged Bush Katydids! Where were they?

Then the next week– suddenly, they were everywhere! No social distancing whatsoever! They were just a little late.

Gladiator Meadow Katydid male

Every Gladiator’s song seemed to end where another’s began, creating waves of insect song. 

Lisa Rainsong · Gladiators NE Geauga County 7 - 11 - 20

In addition, I don’t recall ever hearing so many Broad-winged Bush Katydids in one location. I hadn’t seen their nymphs, so I had no idea how many of either species might actually be present. What a joyful relief! 

Lisa Rainsong · Broad - Winged Bush Katydid And Gladiators Geauga County 7 - 20 - 20

Gladiator Meadow Katydid male

The Broad-winged Bush katydids at this property were so numerous that I was able to study them more closely than usual. 

Broad-winged Bush Katydid female

Their songs are more complex that many katydids. Notice that their song series starts with just two or three “tsips” and adds one more each time: 3, then 4, then 5, then 6, and at least for this group, stopping at 7. I modified this sonogram so you could see the “counting” more clearly. Each song statement seems to get louder and more emphatic as the count increases.

 

Lisa Rainsong · Broad - Winged Bush Katydid Counting Sequence Geauga 7 - 20 - 20

But this year, I could observe more of the process. With multiple males close to each other, I could hear how one would start singing and another would follow right behind him. After a period of silence, one would begin again and another would immediately follow as if singing in a competitive canon. 

Lisa Rainsong · Broad - Winged Bush Katydids Two Geauga 7 - 20 - 20

Excellent!  At least at this location, Gladiator Meadow Katydids and Broad-winged Bush Katydids were absolutely abundant. But what about the other park properties where they were expected but currently missing?

Just two nights later, I slowly and cautiously made my nocturnal way through a wetland area in SE Geauga County. It has excellent habitat for Gladiators, but I hadn’t seen or heard any sign of them - only a couple up in the timothy near where I parked my car. Now, however, singing adults were exactly where they should be – in dense vegetation and boot-sucking mud that made seeing them almost impossible.

Gladiator Meadow Katydid singing from hiding  in wetland vegetation

Finally, Curve-tailed Bush Katydids typically mature a little after the Broad-winged Bush Katydids and the two species can be heard together throughout July.  They are by far the most common Scudderia species in NE Ohio. I’d observed Scudderia nymphs at some of my survey locations, but they didn’t appear to be growing very much. 

Scudderia nymph: his wings are not yet fully grown.

As with both the Gladiators and the Broad-winged Bush Katydids, there seemed to be a Curve-tailed Bush Katydid festival night when many of them appeared to mature at once. In SW Geauga County on the 17^th, there were more Curve-taileds than I think I’ve ever heard at the same time.

Curve-tailed Bush Katydid adult female

Wendy and I watched closely for katydids that were molting on both the 17^th and 18th, as we didn’t want to inadvertently damage any individuals who were this vulnerable state. It’s a good thing we were careful!

Curve-tailed Bush Katydid has just molted and is eating its shed exuvia

I’m finally starting to hear Carolina Ground Crickets and heard the first Striped Ground Crickets last night. Maybe they didn’t get washed away, either.

But what about the Sword-bearing Coneheads? Where are they? Where are the nymphs? Shouldn’t the one in the photo below be singing by now, or have the invasive, non-native praying mantises eaten them all along with the other missing katydids?  

Should I be worried? 

My own notes say they should mature in the third week of July. July 20^th is a reasonable expectation. They can begin singing even a week earlier when it’s been as hot as this July has been so far.

July 19^th, and I still had not heard a Sword-bearing Conehead. I'd only seen a few conehead nymphs.

Sword-being Conehead male nymph

Was I legitimately worried, or just impatient? 

First Sword-bearing conehead I saw this year (female)

Then on July 20^th, the first Sword-bearing Coneheads were singing!

Lisa Rainsong · Sword - Bearing Conehead NE Geauga 7 - 20 - 20

What I think I'm seeing and hearing is that some species are more or less on schedule and others are somewhat late. I just may not know for a little while longer whether there are reasons for concern about any particular species or locations. For now, though, I'll try to set aside my subjective worrying and just observe, document, and learn. 

  Curve-tailed Bush Katydid female completing her molt and inflating her adult wings