INSECTS 



words the public can understand. And if simplicity be the 

 test of true art, the song of the katydid stands the test, for 

 nothing could be simpler than merely katy-did, or its easy 

 variations, such as katy, katy-she-did, and katy-didnt. 



Yet though the music of the katydid is known by ear or 

 by reputation to almost every native American, few of us 



Fig. 24. The true katydid, Pterophylla camellifolia, a male 



are acquainted with the musician himself. This is because 

 he almost invariably chooses the tops of the tallest trees for 

 his stage and seldom descends from it. His lofty platform, 

 moreover, is also his studio, his home, and his world, and 

 the reporter who would have a personal interview must be 

 efficient in tree climbing. Occasionally, though, it happens 

 that a singer may be located in a smaller tree where access 

 to him is easier or from which he may be dislodged by 

 shaking. A specimen, secured in this way on August 12, 

 lived till October 18 and furnished material for the follow- 

 ing notes: 



The physical characters of the captive and some of his 

 attitudes are shown in Figures 24 and 25. His length is 

 \$i inches from the forehead to the tips of the folded 

 wings; the front legs are longer and thicker than in most 

 other members of the family, while the hind legs are un- 

 usually short. The antennae, though, are extremely long, 

 slender, and very delicate filaments, 2 u /i6 inches in length. 



[44] 



