Species: Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)
Family: Bush Crickets (TETTIGONIIDAE)
Category: Insects (Other)
Location: Widespread
A. Insects (Other)
More extensive information on insects can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Bush Crickets (TETTIGONIIDAE)
Bush-crickets are a large family that includes the bush-crickets and katydids, formerly called the long-horned grasshoppers. Although Bush-crickets and Grasshoppers are related, there are distinct differences between the two families. Crickets stridulate by rubbing their wings together at dusk, their 'ears' being on their front legs. (In contrast, Grasshoppers stridulate by rubbing their hind legs against their wings, their 'ears' being at the base of their abdomen.) Whereas Grasshoppers are mostly herbivores, Crickets are omnivores. Bush-crickets have long, thin antennae (in contrast to the shorter, stockier ones that Grasshoppers have).
We have a photograph-filled blog post about all the grasshoppers and bush-crickets that we have seen in the Cemetery that may be worth your time.
C. Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)
This is usually a wingless species, but a winged form may be found. It favours damp meadows and grassland and has a distinctive green or cream border to the pronotum (the plate-like structure behind the head that covers all or part of the thorax). It is found from June to November. The Roesel's Bush-cricket is found in central and southern England. It is rare in the west and north and has not (yet) been seen in Scotland.
Images
Roesel's Bush-cricket
Roesel's Bush-cricket is usually a wingless species, but a winged form may be found.
Roesel's Bush-cricket
A Roesel's Bush-cricket clamps itself onto grasses, perfectly poised. This individual is a male.
Roesel's Bush-cricket
This photograph of a Roesel's Bush-cricket gives you an indication of how small it is, photographed on one of the volunteer's hands. This is the same male whose photograph appears above.
