Nature Notebook

As the summer evenings grow longer so do the nightly concerts of the katydids. These members of the grasshopper family are very difficult to find during the day. Their green color perfectly matches the leaves where they sit to eat and their wings look like leaves.

They aren’t any easier to see at night, but you can easily locate them by following their distinctive song – katy-katy-katydid. That’s what the female katydids do. They use the ears on their front legs to detect the males’ sounds. The males produce the sound by rubbing their wings together like a violin and bow.

After they have mated, the females lay their eggs on leaves or twigs; the eggs will overwinter there. In the spring katydid nymphs will emerge. They look like miniatures of the adults, including the very long, thin antennae, but lack wings. The nymphs will feed on the leaves just as their parents did. Wings will develop as the nymph grows and molts throughout the spring.

Join us for a fun evening of music and storytelling at the Kennedy’s Kitchen concert this Saturday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. Kennedy’s Kitchen is all things Irish from pub songs and sing-a-longs, stories, recitation, to ripping dance tunes. Drinks will be available for purchase. Cost is $30 for adults and $5 for children. Please call us or visit our online store at www.sarett.org to buy tickets.