Subject: Santa Barbara Bug
Geographic location of the bug: Santa Barbara CA
Date: 09/01/2018
Time: 11:19 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: This guy crawled into our house today. Can’t figure out what it is! Any thought what it might be? Thank you!
How you want your letter signed: Alison
Dear Alison,
This is a male Bush Katydid in the genus Scudderia, and we believe it is the Mexican Bush Katydid, Scudderia mexicana because BugGuide states: “The only Scudderia species found in Los Angeles” with the further elaboration that it “Displaces S. furcata in its southwestern range, and overlaps range in California north from about Monterey County.” Here is a BugGuide image for comparison. Like other Katydids, the males are able to make sounds to attract a mate and they are among the chorus of insects that fill the warm summer evenings with sounds.