LONG-HORNED GRASSHOPPER

any member of the cricket-like orthopteran insect family Tettigoniidae (about 3,000 species), distinguished from the true cricket (family Gryllidae) by hearing organs located on the front legs, hair-like antennae as long as or longer in length than the body, a sword-shaped ovipositor (in females) for laying eggs, and wing covers that differ in shape. Most long-horned grasshoppers spend the winter in the egg stage. When the male rubs his wing covers together, he produces a song, one song being characteristic for each species. The family Tettigoniidae includes the katydid, the meadow grasshopper, the cone-headed grasshopper, and the shield-backed katydid (qq.v.). All members of this family, with the exception of the shield-backed grasshopper, are green in colour, have long wings, and inhabit trees, bushes, or shrubs. The shield-backed grasshopper subfamily, which includes the Mormon and coulee crickets, is brown or gray in colour and lives on the ground or in low vegetation; most species are wingless or have reduced wings.