How to Keep Katydids in Winter So They Survive Safely

Our country has a long history of breeding katydids. They can produce a “kuokuokuo” sound, crisp and loud, and are deeply loved by the vast number of singing-insect enthusiasts. So, how do you keep katydids in winter?

1. How to keep katydids in winter?

Overwintering katydids can be raised in small bottle gourds. Cut an opening in the small bottle gourd, remove the pulp, and drill holes; after the processing is done, put the katydid inside. For feed, use fresh vegetable leaves, fresh chili peppers, and soybeans soaked in warm water, feeding them alternately. When the sun comes out, you can soak a towel in hot water, spread it out in the sunlight, and let the katydid slowly crawl on the towel to moisten its feet, then spray a fine mist of water on the katydid. In addition, you need to do a good job of keeping it warm. If the temperature drops to minus five degrees, there is a risk of it becoming frozen stiff or freezing to death.

2. The living habits of katydids

1. Eggs

All the eggs laid that year overwinter in the topsoil. In April of the following year, when the weather is moist, the eggs swell rapidly, increasing in length by 44-58% and in width by 93-126%. During hatching, after the eggshell ruptures, the insect body wriggles within another membrane, and finally the membrane ruptures and it emerges from the soil, taking about 2 hours. If the weather is dry, the egg stage is prolonged or hatching occurs in the following year. The egg stage lasts 244-669 days.

2. Nymph

The nymph molts a total of 4 times. When molting, the head points downward, the legs grip the attachment, the head-thorax ecdysial line splits first, and then the front legs, middle legs, hind legs, antennae, and abdomen emerge in sequence, taking about 65 minutes. Afterwards, it eats the molted skin.

3. Adult

Adults mostly emerge in the morning, and after 7—13 days begin mating, lasting about 30 minutes. The male discharges a milky-white sticky spermatophore with a diameter of up to 10mm, which attaches inside and outside the female reproductive organs, and then mating ends. At this time the female bends her abdomen forward and bites and eats the spermatophore with her mouth, squeezing the sperm into the spermatheca. If she does not eat the spermatophore, she cannot produce fertilized eggs. A katydid can mate multiple times in its lifetime.

Overwintering katydids have relatively strong vitality. As long as attention is paid to good care in feeding, warmth, and other aspects, the katydid's lifespan can be extended to around Qingming of the following year, and it can continue to sing.