David
Element
Wildlife
Photography
and Digital
Video Images
_________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.
-> Orthopteroids
1
-> Orthopteroids 3
-> Orthopteroids 4
-> Orthopteroids
5
-> Orthopteroids 6
-> Orthopteroids 7
-> Orthopteroids 8
-> Orthopteroids 9
-> Orthopteroids 10
-> Orthopteroids
11
-> Orthopteroids 12
-> Orthopteroids 13
-> Orthopteroids 14
-> Orthopteroids 15
-> Orthopteroids 16
-> Orthopteroids 17
-> Orthopteroids 18
-> Orthopteroids 19
-> Orthopteroids
20
-> Index,
Common Names
-> Index,
Scientific Names
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© David
Element.