Greater Arid-land Katydid

Neobarrettia spinosa · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Tettigoniidae

Also called: Red-eyed Devil

Can bite. They can bite when threatened, delivering a powerful bite.

Source: Wikipedia

Greater Arid-land Katydid
Photo: Tom Riggle, CC BY-SA

The greater arid-land katydid lives in oak-juniper woodlands and desert brush in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is a carnivore that hunts grasshoppers, other katydids, caterpillars, small frogs and lizards. When attacked it defends with a strong bite and a powerful kick.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Also called the red-eyed katydid, red-eyed devil, or giant Texas katydid.

Source: Wikipedia

Does it bite or sting?

When threatened it adopts a threat posture and defends with a powerful bite and strong kick.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 3 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Greater Arid-land Katydid photo 2
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Greater Arid-land Katydid photo 3
Photo: Luke Padon, CC BY
Greater Arid-land Katydid photo 4
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY
Greater Arid-land Katydid photo 5
Photo: Cody Stricker, CC BY

Questions people ask

Do they bite?

Yes, they can bite when threatened, delivering a strong bite.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Tettigoniidae)

Great Green Bush-cricketGreat Green Bush-cricketTettigonia viridissimaCan biteDark Bush-cricketDark Bush-cricketPholidoptera griseoapteraMediterranean KatydidMediterranean KatydidPhaneroptera nanaDamages trees, gardens or cropsFork-tailed Bush KatydidFork-tailed Bush KatydidScudderia furcataDamages trees, gardens or cropsSpeckled Bush-cricketSpeckled Bush-cricketLeptophyes punctatissimaRoesel's Bush-cricketRoesel's Bush-cricketRoeseliana roeselii

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neobarrettia_spinosa

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.