Katydid eggs.

Katydids might eat a leaf here and there, but they aren't bad pests. Set them free.

Are those the small green grasshoppers? Last year they chowed down on a lot of my bushes. I don't think I'll set them free.

Sherry

Because more than 90% of all katydid eggs in Florida are parasitized, and since it is those parasites that keep the katydid population so low, I'd not recommend destroying the eggs. On the other hand, once they hatch out and you know which are actually katydids, then you could kill them. I doubt that the green "grasshoppers" you had last year were katydids, although they are green and closely related to grasshoppers; it is just very unusual for katydids to do significant damage in a rose garden.

Pic link

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:284886}}

Nature is amazing, but seeing things like that kinda freak me out. Mostly because they remind me of those alien movies in which something attaches itself to someone and three days later a hideous creature comes ripping out of his chest.

They kind of creep me out. I thought it was some kind of strange worm. It is true that nature has it almost an art form here and amazing how they lay them like that. I'm not even going to ask how they know to do that or what kind of adhesive they use to be sure they stick.

The ones I had did not have that body shape. It was that color but looked like a small grasshopper. Sorry, I don't know bugs.

Malcolm, I suppose it's not necessary that I understand, but when you said "On the other hand, once they hatch out and you know which are actually katydids, then you could kill them.", you totally lost me. What else would hatch from katydid eggs but katydids? And which ones would I kill? It really does sound like an alien movie.

Sherry

Exactly right! I think whoever had the original idea for the "Alien" movies must have been a bug person. Eggs that are parasitized have been stung by a tiny wasp, so that her larvae are feeding on the embryonic kadydids in the eggs. If an egg is parasitized, one day a wasp will break out, exactly like the Alien does, killing its host (the katydid) in the process. You don't have to worry about those. But the non-parasitized eggs will hatch regular katydids which will be healthy and hungry.

Sounds particularly gross, Malcolm. No offense to the katydids, but I think I'll take care of the 20% that the wasps missed. You now, an ounce of prevention...

BTW, what do grasshopper eggs look like? Any chance you could be mistaken and these are really grasshopper eggs? (she asked, partially in jest.) Of course, you wouldn't be mistaken. They are such nice looking insects, but unless they serve a predatory purpose aside from the leaf-eating function, I really don't want them around. They give me the willies when I have to pick them off by their skinny legs which break off. So eliminating them in egg form simplifies the process greatly. And something chews on the buds, too.

Sherry

I could be mistaken, but I think grasshoppers very often lay their eggs in clusters underground, so you don't see the eggs.

I'm not even going to ask how they know to do that or what kind of adhesive they use to be sure they stick.

They are born knowing what to do, and there are proteins that are sticky. (The gallows humor joke about horses and glue factories comes to mind.) No doubt the female produces one of those as an adhesive when she's laying the eggs.

FWIW -

Katydids really did a number on my citrus fruit in the grove this past season but never touched the roses .

Any neighbors growing an orange tree or two near you ?

If the katydid eggs have been parasitized and will hatch wasps, are they the parasitic wasps that eat thrips and other insects?

No doubt the female produces one of those as an adhesive when she's laying the eggs.

If somebody handed me a bunch of those things, I'd be hard put to lay them out neatly like that lol. I'd figure out something for glue though or maybe I wouldn't because it might injure the leaf.

Unless I were sure they were beneficial, I'd want rid of them, too, although I don't like wantonly destroying thing.

BTW I have not seen one of those big grasshoppers that spit that tobacco juice stuff since I was a kid, wonder what happened to them? I've seen some smaller green type though, just two, and probably are more out there.

Duchesse, No, this species is uniquely suited to parasitizing kadydid eggs. There are thousands of species of parasitic wasps, each of which has its own favorite foods. So, while they are all wasps, they are not the same ones.

gatormomx2, no citrus nearby. I guess you think they'd be good bait? Ya know, I never noticed them around until last year. Before roses I was oblivious to nature apparently.

Sherry

A link to a drawing of the parasite.

Here is a link that might be useful: male parasite of katydid

I have not seen one of those big grasshoppers that spit that tobacco juice stuff since I was a kid, wonder what happened to them?

*** They moved to SoCal.
:-)

Jeri

Malcolm, are katydids the only insects these wasps parasitize? Are they good for anything else?

Sherry

Katydids are serious pests in my garden. The feed on rose buds, slicing them in half (usually vertically). They are hard to spot and catch. The nymphs (immatures) are green with reddish markings (some species elsewhere are brown). They are shaped like grasshoppers but the legs are thinner. They are impressive jumpers. The adults have green leaf-shaped wings (or wingcases?) and are well camouflaged even at nearly 2" long. They may come to lights or windowscreens at night.

Thanks for IDing the eggs and explaining the parasitism, Malcolm.

Thank you, Michael. Those half-eaten buds are a pain, so I'm glad I won't have to chase down these jumpin' buggers. I guess I should look around for more eggs. Do ya think this is their season, maybe?

Sherry

Grasshopper eggs look like a miniature cigar made up of segments and since they get buried in the ground when they are layed it is unlikely you would ever see them.

Lance

Sherryocala -- So what did you do/what are you going to do with them? The suspense is killing me.

Interesting, Michael. You guys must not have the parasites there. I don't recall ever seeing katydid damage on roses in Florida. We do occasionally see the damage on citrus trees, but even there, it's never bad enough to worry about and certainly not worth any sort of control measures.

jaxondel, I didn't do anything to them except let the garageman take them this morning. So maybe if the plastic bag breaks at the landfill, they'll be free to hatch away from my yard. They're pretty things, but my experience has been like Michaels. So I was glad to say "Bye Bye."

I need to go look for more though.

Sherry

Adult Katydids love to eat citrus fruit and young leaves - particularly oranges . They ( and others ) caused quite a bit of damage to my fruit this past season .
The damage is unique so it is easy to tell what scarred and stunted the oranges . Here is an excerpt from the link below :
"Katydids, like grasshoppers, sometimes feed on the peel of growing oranges (Figure 7), resulting in large, smooth, sunken areas in the rind as the fruit develops. Some of the fruit will drop but others will remain on the tree with unsightly blemishes. Although this damage is commonly called "katydid damage," it can also be caused by grasshoppers, crickets, and other insects."

Bring on all the wasps !

Here is a link that might be useful: Grasshopper, Katydid and Cricket Pests of Florida Citrus

Aren't grasshoppers and katydids all considered part of the locust family? ... like plagues of locusts?!?! And Malcolm... what DID happen to the tobacco spitting grasshoppers when we were kids? And for that matter... all the frogs we used to try to catch?!?

Katydids do serve a purpose:

{{gwi:232169}}

There are different species that might prefer different plants to eat. The fact that Sherry's eggs were laid on a rose leaf would make me suspect they are a rose pest.

Thanks to all for an interesting thread. Harry-- sensational picture!

Yes, Harry, stupendous photo!!

Michael, you make a great point! What are those young katydids going to eat but Mme Caroline Testout??

Sherry

Isn't that a photo of a praying mantis, not a katytid? Mantids, as far as I'm aware, are pure carnivores.

Scox - the purpose of the katydid is to feed the praying mantis :)

You're right, scox, but look closer. The mantid is clutching a katydid. Presumably, he has his dinner.

Sherry

LOL. EW. That's one big katytid. Now I'm just grossed out.

EEWWWW! I'm gonna go wipe down my monitor, now.

Aren't grasshoppers and katydids all considered part of the locust family? ... like plagues of locusts?!?!

Sort of, but not quite. They're both part of an insect order named "Orthoptera" (along with crickets), but the grasshoppers are one family within Orthoptera (a family named "Acrididae") and the katydids are another family within Orthoptera (a family named "Tettigoniidae").

Now, "locusts" ("like plagues of locusts") are actually all grasshoppers, but they are species within just one particular grasshopper genus, and the name of that genus is "Schistocerca".

Under normal circumstances the species in Schistocerca aren't especially unique or anything (except to someone trained in identifying grasshopper species). They're just others of the grasshoppers you might see in a meadow, or a crop field. However, what makes the Schistocerca grasshoppers special is how their physiologies respond to rainfall. These grasshoppers often live in areas that are fairly dry in most years, but that every so often have wet years, or wet seasons in a part of some years. If I remember correctly, when the rainfall happens the right way it stimulates adult females to all lay eggs, and then the eggs develop differently from being exposed to the extra soil moisture from the rainfall. A different set of development genes "turn on" in the developing embryos. When those grasshopper nymphs hatch they then in turn behave differently. Normally locust nymphs are solitary (like other grasshoppers), but in the wet years (when the vegetation is coming out in a flush of lush growth in response to the extra rain) instead of living in a solitary style those nymphs are gregarious. They stay close together and move as units, eating as they go. This behavior stays with them all the way to adulthood, and the adulthood is different too.

Their adult bodies look much different than they do in the dry times. The bodies are markedly larger, heavier, and the wings are unusually long. They're also much more willing fliers, and they fly gregariously. Since the weather is stormier the air is more turbulent, and these clouds of locusts (& they do look like clouds), travel on the storm winds, getting carried to areas where it's raining. That lets the young females lay eggs in wet areas, which keeps their exploitation of the rain going as new generations are born and continue on in this other "locust" physiology.

They continue on that way until the rains quit - which may happen in a few months or a year or two later.

Meanwhile they in their hopping and flying millions strip everything green down to dust, crops and all.

York, thanks, that was really interesting.

You're welcome!

And the frogs? Now I'm curious. And thanks from me, too, for the info about locusts.
Melissa

Sorry, can't help you about the other Biblical "plagues of Egypt". The locust "plague" still happens regularly in various parts of Africa (including Egypt), where Schistocerca gregaria is native, just as it was back then.