Can i keep a long legged grasshoper or katydid?

[Murray of the Deep]

can i also culture them? and found one thingy while catching grasshopper nymphs can i take care of them and also how do you clean the poop on the glass thanks!any info and can i keep him?

[JeffreH]

Where did you collect from? Or I guess more specifically, what country or state did you collect from?

You can certainly keep a katydid or grasshopper and you can certainly try to culture them... but success will depend a lot on the location collected and species. Some katydids require an overwintering period for thier eggs which may demand you to place eggs in the fridge for some time. Depending on the species and type of ovipositor you may also need to provide a unique host plant or certain structures to which the female can lay her eggs (most katydids lay on stems, twigs, or undersides of leaves rather than in the ground like commonly cultured species).

Poop on glass from insects can be cleaned with a damp cloth or paper towel and stubborn spots can be cleaned with mild hand or dish soap if you go about cleaning the entire bin. I don't often concern myself with spot cleaning insect cultures and it usually isn't necessary to practice maintaining a 'sterile' environment for most insects... athough regular removal of frass, dead bodies and molted skins is a good practice.

[Murray of the Deep]

i collected them from our school gym i just found one he was the biggest and placed him in a temporary tank like a bottle ill be moving him soon to a critter keeper and also wont it jump out if i clean his cage??
im in the philippines
and got them from a short plant.....

[JeffreH]

Treat it just like any other cricket or grasshopper - it will jump and it may be capable of flight depending on the species. It will certainly have the ability to jump out if you open the cage to clean it, so be sure to do so in a controlled area so you can re-capture the insect. Or perhaps attempt to net it or something after opening the cage before you start cleaning... use your imagination ; )

You'll ultimately need a male and a female to culture them. Be sure to obtain the same species you collected as before to prevent cannibalism... females will have what is called an ovipositor at the base of their abdomen (rear end) that is used to lay eggs. For most katydids this looks like a large hook-like structure sticking out of the back of the insect. Its often quite cryptic like the rest of the insect and will likely resemble a young leaf shoot. Adult males will lack this structure.

If possible, you'll want to grab some leaves and twigs from the plant you obtained the insect(s) from. This is usually a good practice in case females have a preference for specific host plants in which to lay their eggs. If you are lucky and get successful breeding, the female may lay eggs on these stems and leaves. Some insects are generalists and will lay their eggs on just about anything when ready, others prefer specific plant species.

As for feeding - you can probably get by rearing them otherwise the same as a cricket or locust. They will consume grain product and will readily eat leafy greens, vegetables, and fruits as a source of hydration.

I would also keep some kind of soil substrate in the bottom of the critter keeper to better maintain at least some humidity for the benefit of the eggs and the katydids.


Thats about the best advice I can offer without knowing any of the specifics. I've cultured northern bush katydids before with limited success in captivity; I didn't put in nearly enough effort to maintain a colony of them but managed to get reproduction, eggs, and a few lucky hatchlings.

[Murray of the Deep]

hey jeff got any pics of male and female? i caught another one my old one has like a greenhook and now the one i got has a black tiny hook on its end are they male and female?

[JeffreH]

Here are links to male genitalia courtesy of BugGuide:
male genitalia, bush katydid nymph - Scudderia - BugGuide.Net

male genitalia, northern bush katydid - Scudderia septentrionalis - BugGuide.Net

And a female, with her more exaggerated, hook-like ovipositor (courtest of: Insect Morphology )



Take a look around at other grasshoppers and crickets and you'll eventually get a good feel for it. Understanding insect morphology (and especially taxonomy..ugh) is a pretty big learning curve so I completely understand if you are having trouble. To express is as simply as possible, the female will have a pretty long thing sticking out of her butt relative to her body size while males only have little structures (usually multiple) sticking out of their butts... but the male genitalia is not nearly as conspicuous in most cases.

Hope this helps! If you are at all able to take pictures, I could certainly give you a positive male and female ID if you post em.

[Murray of the Deep]

ill post tommorow ill picture them from a bottle and also i dont think my bug isnt a katydid it was like a long legged grasshopper ill picture them tommorow to let you identify.
it looks like this(not my pic) ill post my pic tommorow with the ovipositor wish i got good shots...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruno73/277821817/

[Murray of the Deep]

ok so here it is i caught a male yey and also the one in the pic is a female now tell me what kinds of insects this is

[JeffreH]

Unfortunately I can tell you little more than we already know judging by the picture - and I agree with you that it appears to be female.

It's definitely in the family Tettigoniidae (with other katydids and crickets) but I cannot key it further with my limited knowledge of the local species in your area and without a better quality pictures of the insect... but I don't think identifying it to species is all that important right now anyway. Keep it as we've discussed and if you are fortunate it may thrive and breed for you. I only have exerience culturing one species of katydid, and while the methods to raise them are probably similar, you are likely the first on this forum to take a stab at raising this specific insect.

[Murray of the Deep]

hey Jeff i accidentally escaped one out of its cage by accidentally opened his cage and sprayed water! and also i have one left right now the other one in the pic was crushed and also they are Katydids it molted to an adult! i caught another male but it escaped out of its bottle on my way home.It's pretty hard to find these guys i just find them in a school field on my leisure and also some grasshopper to be fed.

[JeffreH]

Be cautious about feeding anything immediately captured from outside - you'll want to check with the school and make sure that they are not spraying any chemical pesticides (or other "-cides") on the property before feeding them to your animals. Keep in mind katydids and grasshoppers can travel some distance and may have unknown exposure. Only if you are completely confident in the safety of the insect should you feed it. I was under the impression you were looking to collect then culture the insects prior to offering them to your animals.

Best of luck in your insect collecting! I know some of these can be pretty quick and escapees happen to everyone from time to time ; )

[Murray of the Deep]

i obtained another male yey! and also if i cut the "jumping" legs of a grasshopper will it still live?

[JeffreH]

I've never actually tried cutting the legs off - so your guess is as good as mine. The back legs are pretty useful in helping the insect stabilize itself so cutting them off may result in a sluggish insect who is unable to move around properly. I wouldn'y think the injury itself would be severe enough to actually kill it though.

[Murray of the Deep]

so does it mean the back legs wont go back if i cut it off?

[wesleybrouwer]

Seriously guy, seek professional help before you end up in a school shoot out or something.
All i see you contributing are strange ideas about torturing small animals,
scientific studies has shown this can be an early sign of a mental issue developing into something more severe.
Sorry, normally i won't bother posting to things like this, but you do kind of disturb me with those strange ideas.

[Murray of the Deep]

Seriously guy, seek professional help before you end up in a school shoot out or something.
All i see you contributing are strange ideas about torturing small animals,
scientific studies has shown this can be an early sign of a mental issue developing into something more severe.
Sorry, normally i won't bother posting to things like this, but you do kind of disturb me with those strange ideas.

what do you mean???????? im not torturing them i feed them to my toads!

[wesleybrouwer]

You ask about if and how to keep them.
I only see posts of toads in bad environments, wondering why it is not eating.
I read about experiments where you throw an animal living on land into an aquarium,
now you are wondering what happens if you cut legs off of animals because they jump.....
In my point of view, you are not all that compassioned with animals, lack of empathy may be a problem in this case?
Like i said, scientific research shown this is one of the early signs of more tragic things that might be happening in the future.

Empathy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[GrifTheGreat]

You ask about if and how to keep them.
I only see posts of toads in bad environments, wondering why it is not eating.
I read about experiments where you throw an animal living on land into an aquarium,
now you are wondering what happens if you cut legs off of animals because they jump.....
In my point of view, you are not all that compassioned with animals, lack of empathy may be a problem in this case?
Like i said, scientific research shown this is one of the early signs of more tragic things that might be happening in the future.

Empathy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reallly!!!!! Wesley this is actually uncalled for. He is just a kid. I think he likes amphibians so he is trying to find ways to keep and care for them although not being able to provide correct housing is frowned upon by most of us here it doesn't mean that he has a psychological problem. I cannot believe that you actually posted that. I've never seen you go off on anyone here let alone actually commenting on someones mental status.

I'm going to lock this thread now before it gets out of hand. I also think you should appologise. You are not a Psychologist correct? So how can you diagnose a mental condition. Please be civil because you offended Jerome otherwise I would not be posting this and locking the thread.