Observations on the behavior and biology of leaf-mimicking katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae: Pterochrozini)
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Castner, J. L., and D. A. Nickle. 1995. Observations on the behavior and biology of leaf-mimicking katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae: Pterochrozini). Journal of Orthoptera Research 4:93.
Abstract:
The behavior and biology of true leaf-mimicking katydids from lowland Amazonian rainforests in northeast Peru include several unusual features. A unique form of pair bonding or pair maintenance, called "riding", is reported for the first time; a male clings to the tegmen of the female for long periods of time between mating events. Species belonging to the genera Mimetica, Pterochroza, and Typophyllum display color polymorphism (with up to seven color variants in some species) and sexual dimorphism (males are significantly smaller and have different tegminal shapes than conspecific females). Some species of Pterochroza, Tanusia, Ommatoptera, Rhodopteryx, Porphyromma, and Typophyllum have secondary defense displays, wherein brightly colored hindwings and the undersides of tegmina with eyespots are displayed, when the katydid is disturbed by a potential predator. Parasitism by sarcophagid and ceratopogonid flies is also reviewed.
Keywords: camouflage, cryptic coloration, katydids, sexual dimorphism Typophyllum, Pterochroza, Cycloptera, Roxelana, Mimetica