katydid

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various green insects of the family Tettigoniidae related to the grasshoppers and the crickets, the male of which produces a shrill sound by rubbing together specialized organs on the forewings.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An orthopterousinsect of the family Locustidœ of large size, green color, and arboreal habits. Its note (which is imitated by its name) is produced by stridulation. The common katydid is Cyrtophyllum or Platyphyllum concavum. It is abundant in the central and eastern United States, where its shrilling call is one of the most familiar sounds of a summer night. The wing-covers are long, entirely covering the hind wings, and of a pretty pale-green color. By means of the long similar-shaped ovipositor, the eggs are pushed into crevices in the soft bark and stems of plants. The round-winged katydids are several species of Amblycorypha, as A. rotundifolia, abundant in the northern United States and Canada. Microcentrum retinervis is the angular-winged katydid. Another katydid, of slender form, is Phaneroptera curvicauda.
2. n. Same as logging-wheels.

Wiktionary

1. n. A type of grasshopper, scientific name Tettigoniidae.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A large, green, arboreal, orthopterous insect (Cyrtophyllus concavus) of the family Locustidæ, common in the United States. The males have stridulating organs at the bases of the front wings. During the summer and autumn, in the evening, the males make a peculiar, loud, shrill sound, resembling the combination Katy-did, whence the name.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. large green long-horned grasshopper of North America; males produce shrill sounds by rubbing together special organs on the forewings