Pink katydids

Mrs. Z brought pink katydids to visit our classroom! 









These guests are on a little vacation (such as it is, with so many child-scientists peering at them) from the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  The children observed that the female has “a hook thing attached to the end of her thorax”—the ovipositor. 

I was very surprised to learn that pink katydids occur naturally right here in Houston.  Have you ever spied one in your backyard?  According to Erin Mills, Houston Museum of Natural Science entomologist, “The most common form of this katydid is green, less common is the pink or golden form, and the rarest is the orange form.”  She goes on to write, “The color comes from a genetic defect, similar to albinism, called erythrism. . . .  due to a lack or abundance of certain pigments in their bodies.”  Read more about pink katydids at the museum blog.