katydid singing through the warm summer night

Size
Body: 3–5 cm
Lifespan
1–2 years
Diet
Herbivorous: feeds on leaves, flowers and fruit of native and introduced plants. Active at night, feeding in canopy of trees and shrubs. Males produce loud, rhythmic calls by rubbing wings together.
Habitat
The professional leaf-mimics of the garden. Almost exclusively found in canopy of shrubs and trees. Particularly fond of cosy garden hedges, feijoa trees and native broadleafs.
Range
Throughout North and South Islands in gardens, forests and scrublands. Most common in warm, lowland areas with diverse native and introduced shrubs and trees.
Endemism
Native
Main Threats
Habitat loss from forest clearance and urban development. Pesticide use in gardens which kills adults. Light pollution which disrupts mating calls and nocturnal behaviour.
Population
The common garden katydid is a frequent visitor to New Zealand backyards, especially in warmer months. While technically crickets, they are far more elegant and specialised than the black field-dwellers most people are familiar with.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
The elegant cousin of the cricket family. An insect that looks like a leaf. The katydid is a master of foliage-blend mimicry and living leaf anatomy. Their physical form is a high-tech study in chameleon-like adaptation, featuring a body shaped to match the contours of a fresh green leaf, complete with wing veins that replicate the intricate ribbing of a plant. An insect that wears a disguise. Unlike the scuttling behaviour of many nocturnal residents, the katydid utilises a static defence strategy, simply becoming a part of the scenery and waiting for the world to pass. When movement is necessary, they employ a slow, swaying gait known as the wind-in-the-willows walk, designed to mimic a leaf vibrating in a natural breeze. The life cycle is a definitive sign of beauty in detail, where survival is dictated by the quality of the costume. Females utilise a broad, blade-like ovipositor to glue flat, seed-like eggs in precise rows along leaf edges, a residency so well-disguised that it remains largely invisible to the predatory eyes of birds like the fantail. Operating as primarily herbivorous expert camouflagers, they represent the gentle residents of the New Zealand garden, performing a minor role in plant pruning while acting as a high-stakes challenge for the forest's observant eyes. Males produce their characteristic call by rubbing their wings together at night. The sound is a rhythmic, two-toned chirp that gives them their common name: katydid. The garden at night is quiet. The katydid sits on a leaf, green and still, wing veins like leaf ribs. It begins to call: katydid, katydid. It does not know it is a master of mimicry. It does not know it is elegant. It just wants to attract a mate. To encounter a leaf that suddenly sprouts legs and moves with the breeze is to witness a survivor that has mastered the art of the elegant cousin. The katydid is proof.