David Element's Wildlife Web Page Orthopteroids 3

David Element

Wildlife Photography

and Digital Video Images

__________Orthopteroids 3 - Grasshoppers

COMMON GREEN GRASSHOPPER Omocestus viridulus

WOODLAND GRASSHOPPER Omocestus rufipes (f)

COMMON FIELD GRASSHOPPER Chorthippus brunneus (f)

(BROWN FORM)

MEADOW GRASSHOPPER Chorthippus parallelus (f)

(GREEN FORM)

LESSER MARSH GRASSHOPPER Chorthippus albomarginatus

(GREEN FORM)

LESSER MARSH GRASSHOPPER Chorthippus albomarginatus

(BROWN FORM)

HEATH GRASSHOPPER Chorthippus vagans (m)

RUFOUS GRASSHOPPERS Gomphocerippus rufus (m, f)

RUFOUS GRASSHOPPERS Gomphocerippus rufus (f)

(PURPLE FORM)

LARGE GOLD GRASSHOPPER Chrysochraon dispar (m)

LARGE GOLD GRASSHOPPER Chrysochraon dispar (f)

LEEK GRASSHOPPER Meiosthesus aliaceus

*A particular welcome to visitors from the BBC Radio 4 'Home Planet' programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/homeplanet_20030923.shtml which is currently linked to this page. More photographs of British and European grasshoppers (and many other wild animals) may be accessed by using either the links at the bottom of this page or these site indexes:

-> Index, Common Names

-> Index, Scientific Names

-> Site Index

Further photographs of different colour forms of female Meadow Grasshoppers may be seen on Orthopteroids 9.

The male and female Large Gold Grasshoppers (photographed in the Loire Valley, France) show a considerable degree of sexual dimorphism and could easily be mistaken for two separate species. The Leek Grasshopper was photographed in the Dordogne, France. All of the other examples shown were photographed in southern England.

The Common Field Grasshopper has several different colour forms and these are illustrated to good effect on the ARKive website: http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_terrestrial_and_freshwater/Chorthippus_brunneus/

Male Rufous Grasshoppers are unusual in performing an elaborate courtship ritual prior to mating which involves much head movement, stridulation and windmilling of the antennae. One of the typical postures is shown in the photograph. There is not much evidence of response from the females but presumably this tactic does work! The purple female form of this uncommon insect is a very rarely encountered variant and this is believed to be only the fourth example recorded in Surrey. Earlier specimens were seen in 1947, 1974 and 1976 and there is believed to be an association with uncommonly warm weather conditions during the developmental period, possibly related to the positioning of the eggs (Dr. Peter Sutton, pers. comm.). Another colony in Devon has a proportion of females with almost entirely purple colouration.

RECOMMENDED REFERENCES:

‘GRASSHOPPERS AND ALLIED INSECTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND’, JUDITH A. MARSHALL AND E.C.M. HAES, HARLEY BOOKS, 1988. ISBN 0 946589 13 5

‘GRASSHOPPERS AND CRICKETS OF SURREY’, DAVID W. BALDOCK, SURREY WILDLIFE TRUST, 1998. ISBN 0 9526065 4 2 - see: http://www.surreywildlifetrust.co.uk/surrey/Publications/default.asp for details of the Surrey Wildlife Atlas series and click on the links provided for further information about each atlas. This comprehensively illustrated book contains reproductions of the song diagrams (for Surrey species, i.e. the substantial majority of the British fauna) originally published in ’GRASSHOPPERS, CRICKETS AND COCKROACHES OF THE BRITISH ISLES’ by David Ragge. This book is unfortunately out of print, but for those with an interest in identification by sound there are tape cassettes and CDs available - *see below. The use of bat detectors for the identification of orthopterans is detailed in this book. It is likely that many observers will need them as the ability to hear high frequency sounds tends to deteriorate by the time that the necessary identification skills have been developed!

‘A FIELD GUIDE TO THE GRASSHOPPERS AND CRICKETS OF BRITAIN AND NORTHERN EUROPE’, HEIKO BELLMAN, COLLINS, 1988 ISBN 0 00-219852-5

‘BRITISH WILDLIFE’, BRITISH WILDLIFE PUBLISHING, ISSN 0958-0956 CONTAINS REGULAR ORTHOPTERA REPORTS BY DR. PETER SUTTON - SEE BELOW

* FOR SOUND IDENTIFICATION:

’A Sound Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allied Insects of Great Britain and Ireland’ by J.F.Burton and D.R.Ragge is a tape containing the songs of 26 species

’A Sound Guide to the Grasshoppers and Crickets of Western Europe’ by D.R.Ragge and W.J.Reynolds is a twin set of CDs containing the songs of 170 European species (including all of the British examples)

ORTHOPTERA RECORDS:

Dr. Peter Sutton is the National Orthoptera Recorder. He may be contacted at: petersutton@freeuk.com. The Orthoptera Recording Scheme Newsletter may be downloaded from the Biological Records Centre Website: http://www.brc.ac.uk/brcNewsletterResults.asp?news_id=24