Nebraska Conehead
A loud summer katydid reveals itself by a buzz longer than a second, repeated about every two seconds, before its black-bottomed head cone comes into view.
Artwork inspired by Reinhold Marxhausen
Nebraska Coneheads occur in both green and brown forms and measure roughly 44–56 millimeters. The most useful visual feature is the prominent cone: much of its lower surface is black, rather than having black mostly confined to the edges as in the Sword-bearing Conehead. They sing from grassy, weedy, brushy fields, roadsides, and sometimes shrubby trees.
The call is a piercing buzz lasting more than a second and recurring about every two seconds. Nearby males may partly synchronize without beginning together. Record an uninterrupted sequence plus air temperature, because katydid timing changes with warmth; use the recording and cone photographs together rather than treating “found in Nebraska” as identification.
- Visual key
- Prominent cone broadly black underneath
- Song
- Long buzz repeated about every two seconds
- Season
- July–September
Quick guide
- Find by ear
- Listen along brushy grass and roadside edges after dark
- Confirm visually
- Photograph the cone from side and below without capture
Pair the two-second rhythm with the cone
- Record before approaching
- Capture at least twenty seconds of the repeating buzz from a public path. Note air temperature and preserve the gaps between calls so pulse timing remains useful.
- Locate the singer slowly
- Follow the sound toward coarse grass, a brushy field edge, or a shrubby tree. Stop often; head-down singers may drop into litter when vegetation is disturbed.
- Check the underside
- Look for a tall cone whose lower surface is broadly black on a green or brown katydid. Photograph side and face views without touching or containing the insect.
- Separate similar coneheads
- Compare both image and song. In the Sword-bearing Conehead, black beneath the cone is more nearly confined to its edges; a Nebraska location alone cannot establish the species.
Good to know
Neighboring males may partly synchronize their buzzes, yet each completes its call before another begins. Preserving the natural gaps in a recording makes that pattern—and the identification—easier to evaluate.
Notice these
- Cone broadly black underneath
- Buzz longer than one second
- Roughly two-second repetition
- Green or brown 44–56 mm body