Orthoptera of North Carolina
Scientific Name: Common Name:
Family (Alpha):
« »
View Tettigoniidae Members: NC Records

Orchelimum bradleyi Rehn & Hebard, 1915 - Bradley's Meadow Katydid

No image for this species.
Taxonomy
Family: Tettigoniidae Subfamily: Conocephalinae Tribe: Conocephalini
Comments: One of nineteen species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Cigliano et al., 2018), thirteen of which have been recorded in North Carolina
Species Status: Placed in Subgenus Stenorhoptrum by Rehn and Hebard (1915). O. volantum is the only other member of this subgenus and is highly similar to bradleyi. However, it does not occur in our area.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Capinera et al. (2004)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, BOLD, Google Images,  iNaturalist, GBIFTechnical Description, Adults/Nymphs: Rehn and Hebard (1915); Blatchley (1920)SINA 254a.htm                                                                                  
Comments: A relatively slender member of the Greater Meadow Katydids. Most of the head, body, and appendages are light green, with two diverging brown lines running from the vertex to the hind edge of the thorax. The tegmina is pale brown with a darker patch on the dorsal field. The eyes are chocolate brown (Rehnand Hebard, 1915)
Total Length [body plus wings; excludes ovipositor]: Body length: 23.2-25 mm, males; 21.5-23.6 mm, females (Blatchley, 1920)
Structural Features: Females are fairly easy to recognized based on their distinctive ovipositors. The upper margin of the ovipositor is straight or nearly so and the lower edge also straight from the base to at least the middle; its length is greater than half but less than two-thirds of the hind femora (Rehn and Hebard, 1915). Male cerci are strongly tapering to a subacute tip and are depressed in side view. In our other members of this genus, either the upper margin of the ovipositor is curved or, in the case of militare, the ovipositor is longer than two-thirds of the hind femora. Conocephalus fasciatus has a similarly straight ovipositor, but that species is much smaller overall.
Singing Behavior: Songs consist of a series of "zit-buzzes", sometimes with a series of zits interspersed (see SINA, 2018)
Distribution in North Carolina
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Adult Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Associated with Maiden Cane and Sawgrass marshes
Diet: Not recorded; probably omnivorous
Observation Methods: Individuals dive into the water when disturbed, making them difficult to capture (Rehn and Hebard, 1915)
Abundance/Frequency: We have too few records to estimate the frequency of occurrence of this species, but it was described as abundant at the site of its original observation North Carolina in 1909
Adult Phenology: Records from North Carolina are from August
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status: W3
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR SU->[SH]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands
Comments: We have only a couple of records for this species, none of which are recent. It is likely to be restricted to the Tidewater area, where it is a fairly strong habitat specialist. The grassy marsh habitats this species occupies are likely to be affected by sea-level rise, with at least some shifts in range and possible fragmentation of its habitat to be expected. More information is needed on its distribution in the state and its exact habitat requirements before its conservation status can be accurately determined.