{"id":81379,"date":"2026-01-07T12:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T07:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=81379"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:08:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:38:38","slug":"katydids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/katydids\/","title":{"rendered":"Katydids"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Katydids Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers recently identified three previously unknown species of meadow katydids, or long-horned grasshoppers, named Conocephalus usmanii, Conocephalus nagariensis, and Conocephalus ganderbali, in Jammu and Kashmir.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Katydids<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Found on every continent except Antarctica,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Katydids are a family of primarily<\/span><b> nocturnal insects.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are more than 8,000 known species of Katydid, all of which belong to the family Tettigoniidae.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, and katydids<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> belong to a <\/span><b>group of insects known as orthopterans (meaning &#8216;straight wings&#8217;).<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They <\/span><b>closely resemble grasshoppers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and used to go by the name <\/span><b>long-horned grasshoppers.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, in reality, they are<\/span><b> more closely related to crickets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, hence their other c<\/span><b>ommon name, the bush cricket.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Katydids <\/b><b>Features<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Katydids vary greatly in size depending on the species. That said, most range between 0.2 inches to 5.1 inches long.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>body generally resembles <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that of <\/span><b>grasshoppers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but katydids have l<\/span><b>ong, threadlike antennae instead of the grasshoppers\u2019 short antennae.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While<\/span><b> most Katydids appear bright green or mimic the appearance of leaves,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> they come in a <\/span><b>variety of colors, ranging from pink to yellow.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like grasshoppers and crickets, katydids <\/span><b>make noise by rubbing body parts togethe<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">r \u2014 in their case, by moving a leg against a wing and producing a sound that resembles their name.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are famous for their ability to<\/span><b> blend into their surroundings.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Katydids have feet with four segments.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>lifespan <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of a katydid is <\/span><b>about a year.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are <\/span><b>mostly herbivores, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">feeding on leaves, flowers, and fruit, but some eat small insects.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Key Facts about Meadow Katydids<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The meadow katydids are a group of about 20 species of <\/span><b>slender, small-to medium-sized katydids <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">found in<\/span><b> grassy meadows near lakes and ponds.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Genus: Orchelimum<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>When disturbed, they enter the water, cling to underwater plants,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and can <\/span><b>remain submerged for several minutes.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abundant and widespread, meadow katydids have <\/span><b>large orange eyes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and a <\/span><b>body that is brown on top and green on the bottom.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They <\/span><b>produce a song,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> consisting of clicks and buzzes, during the day or at night.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conocephalus Nagariensis<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Found in the Budgam district, it is distinguished by its spindle-shaped appendages (cerci) and a stridulatory file containing exactly 34 teeth.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is dedicated to Dr. Rajendra Nagar, a researcher credited with discovering several other species of katydids across the country, and bears his name.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conocephalus Ganderbali<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discovered in the Ganderbal region, it is notably small and slender.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has a musical file of only 28 teeth and a unique V-shaped incision on its underbelly.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its name is derived from the Ganderbal district in Kashmir, the specific locality where the researchers first collected the specimens.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conocephalus Usmanii<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It features a flat, elongated plate on its abdomen and a musical file with 36 teeth.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was named in honour of Professor Mohd Kamil Usmani, a scholar who has made significant contributions to the study of Orthoptera (the group of insects including grasshoppers and katydids) in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source: <\/b><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/researchmatters.in\/news\/hidden-grass-researchers-discover-three-new-species-musical-katydids-kashmir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Katydids are a family of primarily nocturnal insects. Read more about Katydids, Habitat, Features, Key Facts, Latest News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":81387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4607,21,22,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-81379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-katydids","9":"tag-prelims-pointers","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}