David Element's Wildlife Web Page Orthopteroids 2

David Element

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_________Orthopteroids 2 - Bush Crickets

OAK BUSH CRICKET Meconema thalassinum (m)

SHORT-WINGED CONE-HEAD Conocephalus dorsalis (f)

LONG-WINGED CONE-HEAD Conocephalus discolor (f)

GREAT GREEN BUSH CRICKET Tettigonia viridissima (m)

GREY BUSH CRICKET Platycleis albopunctata (f)

BROWN-SPOTTED BUSH CRICKET Platycleis tesselata (f)

ROESEL'S BUSH CRICKET Metrioptera roeselii (m) form diluta

BOG BUSH CRICKET Metrioptera brachyptera (m)

BOG BUSH CRICKET Metrioptera brachyptera (f)

DARK BUSH CRICKET Pholidoptera griseoaptera (m)

DARK BUSH CRICKET Pholidoptera griseoaptera (f)

Several species of Bush Cricket have dramatically increased their British ranges recently. The sudden spread of two species, Roesel's Bush Cricket - see Orthopteroids 8 for life-history - and a comparatively new arrival the Long-winged Cone-head (1931, Isle of Wight, 1945, mainland - see Orthopteroids 7 for further images), has been particularly spectacular and the Short-winged Cone-head (a much more secretive species and hence harder to find) has also been found at new locations. Some species of Bush Cricket are able to produce migratory generations with abnormally long wings (macropterous forms) in response to warming climate (see Roesel's Bush Cricket illustration above).

Oak Bush Crickets fly well and these insects are sometimes attracted to artificial light at night. This insect communicates by tapping its feet and therefore produces no audible stridulation. Individuals may unexpectedly occur indoors on warm summer nights, even in urban locations. Ceilings seem to be popular! Further pictures may be seen on Orthopteroids 6.

The Brown-spotted Bush Cricket is a European species which has not yet reached Britain although there is evidence to suggest that a number of Continental grasshoppers and crickets are moving northwards and this could be a potential candidate for colonisation in the future. The insect shown was photographed in the Loire Valley, France and it is a near relative of the Grey Bush Cricket (also illustrated on Orthopteroids 1) which retains a southern coastal distribution despite the warmer temperatures.

The differences between the sexes are illustrated most clearly in the Bog Bush Cricket illustrations. The ovipositors of (adult) female bush crickets are often characteristically shaped and therefore useful for identification purposes. This handsome species predominantly inhabits wet heathland.

The Great Green Bush Cricket (sometimes erroneously called the Great Green Grasshopper) is one of the largest British insects. The stridulation is loud enough for the sound to carry some distance, but the stridulation is ventriloquial (as it is for several other species, e.g. Roesel's) and the adults are so cryptically coloured that they may be exceptionally difficult to locate when obscured by vegetation - even from a matter of inches away! Further pictures of this spectacular species may be found on Orthopteroids 12.

Dark Bush Crickets begin to stridulate in late afternoon and continue doing so into the night. These crickets may often be observed sunning themselves or displaying courtship behaviour on brambles, nettles or other low vegetation.

During September 2001 Roger Hawkins made the exciting discovery of a Southern Oak Bush Cricket Meconema meridionale in Surrey, the first new Orthopteran to be found in Britain for 60 years. A number of additional sightings have since been made and Orthopterists have been asked to keep a look out for this insect by John Widgery, the then National Orthoptera Recorder (this role has now been taken over by Dr. Peter Sutton). An image of this species is shown on Orthopteroids 5.