01/25/2025
Katydid Conehead - like crickets & grasshoppers, but different!
I recently found this interesting bug lounging on an oyster shell at the beach while searching for sand dollars in the middle of the Texas winter 2025, on an early morning. I had to find out more.
Let’s start with the most common question people ask: do they really have cone heads? Yes. The tops of their heads end in a cone shape, and, in fact, the shape and amount of black on the tip of that cone can identify the species!
When disturbed, adult coneheads will fly off or dive down into the ground, burying their head to make their body appear as grass.
Although well-hidden down in their vegetation by day, coneheads ascend their plants to sing and dine on seeds at night. Grass seeds on tall, thick stems are a very common food source for them, and those stems make very fine perches for singing.
Coneheads may begin to sing in the late afternoon and continue for hours unless temperatures get too chilly.
Although I did not hear this one sing, it's said to be delightful to locate & watch them perform!
This being the first time I have encountered this bug, it was indeed a rare find along the beach on the Texas gulf shores. More rare than a sand dollar, go figure!
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