Protean Shieldback (Atlanticus testaceus)
Song of a Protean Shieldback (scroll down for explanation and additional recordings!).
Protean Shieldbacks are among the most numerous of our native shieldbacks. Inhabiting weedy fields with scattered trees, they are among the first of the katydids to sing in early summer, beginning in June in the southern portions of their range. Males start singing from the leaf litter just before the sun goes down. As it gets dark, they gradually move up into trees or other tall vegetation and continue singing through the night. Protean Shieldbacks are easy to approach, but their habitats are typically dense, and reaching a singer can be exceedingly difficult, unless you’re a professional contortionist.
Song: A dry, rattling trill with a pulsing quality that is given continuously, though broken at sporadic intervals by very brief pauses. The peak frequency is around 15 kHz. The pulsating quality of the Protean Shieldback’s song is unique, and it allows for reliable identificaton of the species.
Sonogram of a Protean Shieldback. © Wil Hershberger.
Protean Shieldback
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Master List of Species
(with sounds)
Navigate to Species Pages:
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Spring and Fall Field Cricket
Southeastern Field Cricket
Eastern Striped Cricket
Japanese Burrowing Cricket
Ground Crickets (Nemobiinae):
Allard’s Ground Cricket
Carolina Ground Cricket
Confused Ground Cricket
Striped Ground Cricket
Sphagnum Ground Cricket
Tinkling Ground Cricket
Tree Crickets (Oecanthinae):
Black-horned Tree Cricket
Broad-winged Tree Cricket
Davis’s Tree Cricket
Fast-calling Tree Cricket
Four-spotted Tree Cricket
Narrow-winged Tree Cricket
Pine Tree Cricket
Snowy Tree Cricket
Two-spotted Tree Cricket
Trigs and Bush Crickets (Eneopterinae & Mogoplistinae):
Jumping Bush Cricket
Columbian Trig
Handsome Trig
Say’s Trig
Thomas’s Trig
Mole Crickets (Gryllotalpidae):
Northern Mole Cricket
Southern Mole Cricket
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FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Saltmarsh Meadow Katydid
Short-winged Meadow Katydid
Slender Meadow Katydid
Woodland Meadow Katydid
Straight-lanced Meadow Katydid
Agile Meadow Katydid
Black-legged Meadow Katydid
Common Meadow Katydid
Gladiator Meadow Katydid
Handsome Meadow Katydid
Lesser Pine Meadow Katydid
Long-spurred Meadow Katydid
Red-headed Meadow Katydid
Coneheads (Copiphorinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Round-tipped Conehead
Nebraska Conehead
Robust Conehead
Slightly Musical Conehead
Sword-bearing Conehead
False Robust Conehead
True Katydids (Pseudophyllinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Common True Katydid
False Katydids (Phaneropterinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Clicker Round-winged Katydid
Common Virtuoso Katydid
Rattler Round-winged Katydid
Oblong-winged Katydid
Great Angle-wing
Lesser Angle-wing
Broad-winged Bush Katydid
Curved-tailed Bush Katydid
Fork-tailed Bush Katydid
Northern Bush Katydid
Texas Bush Katydid
Treetop Bush Katydid
Shield-backed Katydids (Tettigoniinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
American Shieldback
Least Shieldback
Protean Shieldback
Robust Shieldback
Roesel’s Katydid
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Band-winged Grasshoppers (Oedipodinae):
Boll’s & Carolina Grasshoppers
Marsh Meadow Grasshopper
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Davis’s SE Dog-day Cicada
Dog-day Cicada
Linne’s Cicada
Lyric Cicada
NE Dusk-singing Cicada
Robinson’s Cicada
Scissor-grinder Cicada
Swamp Cicada
Walker’s Cicada
Hieroglyphic Cicada
Canadian Cicada
Say’s Cicada
Linnaeus’s 17-year Cicada
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