INSECTS
crosswise vein (fv) at the base of the left tympanum (Tm) is the file vein. It is shown from below at C where the broad, heavy file (f) is seen with its row of extremely coarse rasping ridges. The same vein on the right wing (B) is much smaller and has no file, but the inner basal angle of the tympanum is produced into a large lobe bearing a strong scraper (s) on its margin.
Fig. 26. Wings and the sound-making organs of the male katydid
A, left front wing, showing the greatly enlarged tympanal area (Tm), with its thick file vein (fv). B, base of right fore wing, with large scraper (s) on its inner angle, but with a very small file vein. C, under surface of file vein of left wing, showing the large, flat, coarsely-ribbed file (f)
The quality of the katydid's song seems to differ somewhat in different parts of the country. In the vicinity of Washington, the insects certainly say ka-ty-did as plainly as any insect could. Of course, the sound is more literally to be represented as kă ki-kǎk′, accented on the last syllable. When only two syllables are pronounced they are always the first two. Sometimes an individual in a band utters four syllables, "katy-she-did" or kǎ ki-kǎ-kǎk′, and again a whole band is heard singing in four notes with only an occasional singer giving three. It is said that in certain parts of the South the katydid is called a "cackle-jack," a name which, it must be admitted, is a very literal translation of the notes, but one lacking in sentiment and unbefitting an artist of such repute. In New England, the katydids heard by the writer in Connecticut and in the western part of Massachusetts uttered only two syllables much
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