Interior Katydid

As if to reinforce the point to this blog — that inexhaustible nature is everywhere — what should I find on the inside of my building’s front door this morning? A katydid, with only five legs. I haven’t heard any katydids on the street in a while, but I have run across them before in the silences of October.Katydids are classified in the order Orthoptera, along with the grasshoppers and crickets. Only the true katydid, Pterophylla camellifolia, makes the classic “katy did katy did katie didn’t” call, while other species have their own distinct calls. Like the clock-like ticking (if you remember clocks that make noise) you hear from trees in late August and September.

This window katydid has been IDed by the indefatigable Bugguide crew as a Phaneroptera nana, or Mediterranean katydid. A long way from home? The species has established itself in southern California and New York. After I put my camera away, I returned to put the animal outside, but it had disappeared.