by Carl Strang
As I started seeking northern mole crickets in rural ditches at night, I realized that ditches and streams are oases of habitat winding through the biodiversity wastelands of corn and soybeans in large portions of the Chicago region. I started checking ditches during the daytime. The biggest hit came early on, when I discovered woodland meadow katydids beside a ditch in southeastern Kendall County, Illinois. I had dismissed expectations in that county for the species, so this was a big surprise.
The ditch seemed an unlikely location for that katydid, which I had found previously only at woodland edges. A single small tree was the only nearby woody plant.
This proved to be a common pattern, however. As I added county after county to the list of those where I have found woodland meadow katydids, sometimes there were woodland edges adjacent to the ditches but sometimes there was little woody vegetation to be found.
I was frustrated in LaPorte County, Indiana, and Berrien County, Michigan. I later learned that woodland meadow katydids also can inhabit dune edge habitats along Lake Michigan, so I will seek them there in 2021.
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