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Wednesday 29 February 2012

Segestidea queenslandica



Segestidea 2 a video by orthop1 on Flickr.
The Queensland Palm Katydid has been shown on the blog several times before. Females are much more common than males and the species is facultatively parthenogenetic. That means that unmated females can lay eggs and they all become females.

Males are uncommon and are not seen in some years. When they are around their calling song is loud and travels for many metres through the rainforest undergrowth. this is the first know recording of this species.


This is the male that produced the sound above.

A head-on view. This species cannot deliver a painful bite. The jaws are modified for eating palm leaves and this prevents the katydid from getting a good grip on fingers. The spiny hind legs are kicked vigorously when it is attacked.

1 comment:

Paul said...

facultatively parthenogenetic Just learning what that means made my visit here today worth while - I'm going to work it into a conversation at the pub lol.

Excellent stuff as always, love the fact that I can hear the calls here.

Cheers