Is a Katydid a bad bug or a good bug?

lavendrfem

16 years ago

I saw one of these on my hollyhocks - should I leave it be? Or should I be getting out my spray bottle? :)

Estelle

Featured Answer

todancewithwolves

16 years ago

I'd never heard of them so I did a little research. Interesting bugs. I've attached a link below.

Seems they do damage plants but being native to the Amazon I wouldn't know if Hollyhocks are one of their diet supplements.

Edna

Here is a link that might be useful: Katydid

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Comments (12)

debbieca
16 years ago
Well, they love to eat rosebuds, I know that. They are cute though, so they win. : )
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PattiOH
16 years ago
Hi Estelle,
We have several kinds of katydids here in the N.E. I don't think they are really bad or good. Most eat foliage, but we have one (brownish?)that eats flowers and another kind that eats grass. If you have the green kind that says "katy-DiD", it eats foliage. Anyway, I never heard of them causing serious damage. I'd leave it alone and enjoy it!
Patti
PattiOH
16 years ago
P.S. Please excuse my very scientific terminology!
homenovice
16 years ago
They're bad bad bad in my garden! They chow through my citrus leaves, rose buds, rose leaves.... They were much worse last year than this year.

Anne
fernzilla
15 years ago
Well I have never had anything chew on my azaleas leaves, and I noticed a huge katydid on the Azalea. That Katydon't anymore (;-)
agardenstateof_mind
15 years ago
We were searching for our first house through the spring and summer, and finally in August settled on this one in a wooded setting near a bay. We were amazed at how many katydids we could hear at night. 30 years later, they're still going strong, but have never been a problem in the garden. As a matter of fact, as much as we hear them, we rarely see them ... it sounds like they're up in the tall oaks and other trees. Our daughter's name is Katie, so, of course my husband used to tease her when she was little, about the bugs debating whether she did or didn't. The sound always brings back happy memories and I'm glad to share my space with them.

Diane
lvtgrdn
15 years ago
I have one eating daylilies. I was wondering if I should let it stay there when I took this photo a few days ago, but I figured the flower was only going to last a day, anyway. Now, this evening, I saw either it or another munching on another daylily from the same plant. Does anyone know if this will hurt the plant?
{{gwi:717500}}{{gwi:717502}}
Sue
Bamateacha
15 years ago
Fernzilla...LOL!
lvtgrdn
15 years ago
Well, I just saw 2 katydids on two different daylilies, and Googled, "should I be letting katydids eat my daylilies" and guess what link came up first, this one! I clicked on the link Edna put in again, and it doesn't say whether they are destructive enough that you should take them off when you see them. I wonder what they will eat when the daylilies are finished? Any further advice?
Sue
alisande
15 years ago
We've had katydids ever since I've been here (33 years!) and I've never known them to do any significant damage. I took a picture of a katydid nymph on a rosebud earlier this month. The damage you see was done by a Japanese Beetle. I observed the nymph for quite a while, and though he seemed curious about the rose, he didn't consume any of it.

We enjoy hearing them "counting" at night. Gotta love those mating calls!
lvtgrdn
15 years ago
I had a Barnes and Noble 15% off on top of my member discount. Last night, I went and got a book I've seen before and wanted. It's called, "Garden Insects of North America" by Whitney Cranshaw. In it, I found the answer to our questions.

I found out that grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids are in the order called, "Orthoptera". Cranshaw says that katydids are usually large grasshoppers with long antennae and thin jumping hind legs. There are different kinds. Here's a quote from the book, "Both the nymhs and adults chew leaves, rarely causing noticeable injuries." I'm still keeping an eye out, because today, a whole section of a flower was gone from the flower the katydid was in. Maybe that wasn't the culprit, though.

Happy gardening and nature watching,
Sue