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Discover Nature: Katydids

A katydid, disguised as a green leaf, sits on top of a compound leaf.
Katydids join the chorus of nighttime sounds on hot summer nights in Missouri. Listen for their raspy mating calls from treetop perches this week.

If you’ve stepped out to enjoy the night air lately, you’ve likely noticed a loud newcomer to the chorus of night sounds.  This week on Discover Nature, listen for the nocturnal chorus of katydids.

    

 

Close relatives of grasshoppers, many species of katydids call Missouri home – each with very different characteristics. 

 

The northern, or common true katydid has long, slender legs, and large veined wings resembling green leaves, although a genetic mutation causes some specimens to appear pink. 

 

Males rub their wings together to produce a distinct, loud, raspy mating call – like singing, “Katy-did… Katy-didn’t.” 

 

Katydids join the summer symphony on hot July nights, but are rarely seen until autumn when cooler weather makes them clumsy and they fall from their treetop perches. 

 

In autumn, females lay eggs in tree bark where they overwinter and hatch the following spring. 

 

Katydids are leaf eaters and provide an important food source for birds, snakes and other predators that hunt in treetops. 

 

Learn more about katydids with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s online field guide

 

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation. 

 

Kyle Felling’s work at KBIA spans more than three decades. In 2025, he became KBIA and KMUC's Station Manager. He began volunteering at the station while he was a Political Science student at the University of Missouri. After being hired as a full-time announcer, he served as the long-time local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on KBIA, and was Music Director for a number of years. Starting in 2010, Kyle became KBIA’s Program Director, overseeing on-air programming and operations while training and supervising the station’s on-air staff. During that period, KBIA regularly ranked among the top stations in the Columbia market, and among the most listened to stations in the country. He was instrumental in the launch of KBIA’s sister station, Classical 90.5 FM in 2015, and helped to build it into a strong community resource for classical music. Kyle has also worked as an instructor in the MU School of Journalism, training the next generation of journalists and strategic communicators. In his spare time, he enjoys playing competitive pinball, reading comic books and Joan Didion, watching the Kansas City Chiefs, and listening to Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band.
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