sword-bearing conehead

Sword-bearing conehead is a common, large, meadow katydid.

The male is 1¾″ to 2 3 ⁄16″ in length, the female 2 1 ⁄16″ to 2½″. Both males and females have two color phases. On green phase individuals the thorax, abdomen, wings, and femurs are leaf green. There is a narrow yellowish edging on the plate covering the thorax (prothoracic shield) and on the front wing. On brown phase individuals the body is dark tan with black speckling on the wings. The female ovipositor is as long or longer than the body, and is curved, sword-like, which gives this species its common name.

The top of the head extends well beyond the first segment of the antennae, forming the “cone” which gives this tribe its common name. The cone is pinched in at the sides and separated from the head by a gap. It is rounded at the tip and the lower surface is edged with black.

The antennae are long, slender, and hair-like. They are much longer than the body.

The wings are narrow and long, extending beyond the end of the abdomen. They have fewer than 8 longitudinal veins. The front wings slope over the sides of the body, with only a small portion near the base being horizontal. The male has sound-producing organs, a raised hardened vein at the anal edge of the right front wing (scraper) and a toothed vein (file) near the base of the left front wing.

The last segments of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has four segments.

Male: 1¾″ to 2 3 ⁄16″

Female: 2 1 ⁄16″ to 2½″

The song of the male is distinctive. It is often compared to the sound of a distant locomotive. It is a continuous series of high-pitched lisps, clearly separated, produced at the rate of 10 per second.

Moderately moist grassy areas

July to September

They are strong fliers. They sometimes come to lights.

By rubbing the file against the scraper the male produces a high-pitched lisping song. At low temperatures nearby males synchronize their lisps.

They are often heard at night but seldom seen in daylight. During the day they perch head down on the lower stalk of vegetation with only their wings and hindlegs visible, appearing like a grass blade. At night females can be found near calling males feeding on the seedhead of a grass plant.

The female uses her long ovipositor to inject eggs into the crown of grass clumps. Most of the eggs overwinter. In the spring the nymphs feed on grass flowers and developing seeds.

Grass flowers and developing seeds

Seeds of grasses and sometimes sedges.

Sources

7, 24, 27, 29, 30, 70, 82, 83.

Some sources recognize seven subfamilies of katydids (family Tettigoniidae). However, most online sources, including ITIS, NCBI, BugGuide.net, and Orthoptera Species File (OSF) Online, demote the subfamily Copiphorinae (coneheads) to the tribe Copiphorini (coneheads) under the subfamily Conocephalinae (meadow katydids).

Oronoco Prairie SNA Rough Blazing Star ‘Liatris aspera’ w/ Brown Katydid (?) ‘Neoconocephalus ensuger’

Grabbing a gas can to fill the lawn tractor, I noticed this green leaf and thought no more about it. But, while filling the tank, my mind said to look again for the leaf had legs. Sure enough it did!

Sword Bearing Conehead Katydid (Neoconocephalus Ensiger) Male
David Thompson

swordbearingconehead
farside1971

Sword-bearing Conehead Katydid 7-21-13
GeaugaParkDistrict

Dan W. Andree
7/17/2025

Location: Norman Co. Mn.

A strange little creature that kind a looks like it could be an earlier stage of some type katydid nymph

Nancy Falkum
8/20/2024

Location: Oronoco Prairie SNA

Location: Plymouth, Minnesota

Walking into CVS Pharmacy. It was on the glass beside the doors to the entrance. I have never seen one of these before.

Location: Numedal township, Pennington County, Minnesota

Grabbing a gas can to fill the lawn tractor, I noticed this green leaf and thought no more about it. But, while filling the tank, my mind said to look again for the leaf had legs. Sure enough it did!