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Katydids get their name from the way their songs sound. An old story goes like this: A young woman named Katy fell in love with a handsome young man who scorned her and instead married her prettier sister. After the honeymoon, the couple were found dead, poisoned in their bed. Then all the bugs began debating whether Katy did or not. So you listen and you can hear these bugs saying 'Katy Did" and "Katy Didn't".
Some katydids have been called long-horned grasshoppers because of their long and slender shape. Actually all katydids are more similar and related to crickets than grasshoppers. One of the things that makes them different from their relatives is their antennae which may be two or three times the length of their body. These antennae are covered with sensory receptors that allow katydids to find their way around in the dark, that's when most Katydids are active. There are some 4,000 species of katydids in the world. Nowhere else does a greater variety of them exist than in the rain forests of the Amazon. About 2,000 katydid species can be found there! Katydids are an important part of the Amazonian rain-forest community. They feed on the leaves, stems, flowers and fruits of a variety of plants. They also form an important part of the diet of many animals higher up in the food chain, especially monkeys, birds and bats. In these areas, the katydid can get VERY BIG. One of the largest we ever caught was in Mexico...it was 4 inches long.
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