Very often we receive e-mail messages asking about keeping native katydids or grasshoppers alive. Below you will find a brief introduction to what you can feed them and how to keep them. If you need more specific information please don't hesitate to contact us . Remember to include information on where you live as it makes a big difference if you live in Boston, USA or Harare, Zimbabwe - the faunas of different parts of the world are very different. Telling these three groups apart is relatively easy.
Most katydids are green and have long wings.
Crickets are usually brown or black, and like katydids have long, thin antennae. Female's ovipositor is thin, needle-like. Most crickets are stout and more compact than katydids. Grasshoppers have short, relatively thick antennae, which are rarely longer than half of the body. Female's ovipositor is short, often barely visible.