This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

Among the cattails and tall sedges at the edge of a wetland or pond lurks an insect with subtle beauty. At first glance they’re not particularly notable, just another greenish grasshopper-like meadow katydid circling stems to hide from you…but with closer inspection you’ll see their color. A blue green body and Deep red eyes set against pale face. They have a splash of yellow on the upper parts of the front legs…and black below the knee. This is the black-legged meadow katydid.

Fairly common between the Appalachian mountains and the shortgrass prairies of the central United States, The black legged meadow katydid really likes marshy habitats and will sing both day and night anywhere there’s water and tall vegetation. When in those habitats, listen for a hesitating set of clicks before a dry, harsh buzzing. Here’s the black-legged meadow katydid again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW