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Conocephalus Melas Red Katydid

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Freshly moulted Conocephalus melas red katydid... Taken at night in Singapore forest.

Quote from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tettigon…
Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids or bush crickets. There are more than 6,400 species. They are also known as long-horned grasshoppers, although they are more closely related to crickets and weta than to any type of grasshopper. The name is derived from the genus Tettigonia, first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1748. Part of the suborder Ensifera, it is the only family in the superfamily Tettigonioidea.

Primarily nocturnal in habit, with strident mating calls, many katydids exhibit mimicry and camouflage, commonly with shapes and colors similar to leaves.

Tettigoniids may be distinguished from the grasshopper by the length of their filamentous antennae, which may exceed their own body length, while grasshoppers' antennae are always relatively short and thickened.

The males of tettigoniids have sound-producing organs (via stridulation) located on the hind angles of their front wings. In some species females are also capable of stridulation. The males provide a nuptial gift for the females in the form of a spermatophylax, a body attached to the males' spermatophore and consumed by the female. The function of the spermatophylax is to increase the attachment time of the male's spermatophore and thereby increase his paternity.[3]

The eggs of tettigoniids are typically oval-shaped and laid in rows on the host plant.
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Yowhatsupbro's avatar
Why are there so many pretty insects in Singapore?