Stripe-winged Grasshopper * Rattle Grasshopper I Slcl/o/)()t!Jrlfs Iil/mllfS f's()pfJ/ls siridlf/lfs A medium-large grasshopper: males reach A largish species; males reach 25mm long, 19mm and females 26mm long. They are but females may be up to 40mm. They are basically green, often mottled, and the dull mottled brownish, with a distinct keel males usually have a red tip to the ab• on the pronotum (see p.66). In flight, the domen. Both sexes have a curved white hindwings are bright orange-red with a nar• mark on the forewing, and the female has a row dark margin, and the insects make a white stripe along the edge. The song is a distinct rattling sound as they fly. This and distinctive wheezy buzzing that rises and the Blue-winged Grasshopper, below, falls in pitch, lasting 10-20 seconds. belong to a group of grasshoppers with Habitat Dry grassland and heath land coloured wings, visible as 'flash coloration' areas. in flight. Status and distribution Locally com• Habitat Rough, warm, grassy areas, mon in the UK in Sand E Eng!and; WIde• including the uplands. spread and generally common on the Status and distribution Local, from S Continent, from S Scandinavia southwards. Scandinavia southwards. Season 7-10. Season 7-10. Similar species Similar species Lesser Mottled Grasshopper S. stig• * Red-winged Grasshopper Oedipoda matieus resembles a small version of S. lin• germanico is very similar, but differs in hav• eatus, with females reaching 20mm long. ing the pronotum keel broken by a distinct The white 'comma' on the wing is less well notch; the forewings are more striped, and marked. Restricted in Britain to the Isle of the hindwings have a broader dark margin. Man, but more widespread in Europe from A local, mainly southern species. S Scandinavia southwards. * Blue-winged Grasshopper * Green Mountain Grasshopper Ocdif)()da cacrtl/esccl/s Miramcl/a a/pil/a This species is very similar in size and struc• An attractive medium-large grasshopper; ture to the red-winged species above, females reach about 30mm, males up to especially O. germanico, but differs in having 23mm. The colour is bright green, strongly bright blue hindwings, broadly edged with marked with black, especially in male, and black, and ending in a clear tip. The overall the hind legs are partly red. The wings are body colour can vary according to the habi• very small, brownish and widely separated. tat in which the insect lives. Habitat Montane grasslands from about Habitat Occurs in dry, sunny, partly bare I,OOOmupwards. places, such as rocky grassland and old Status and distribution Widespread in quarries. suitable habitats from Germany south• Status and distribution Locally abun• wards. dant, from S Scandinavia southwards. Season 6-9. Season 7-10. Similar species Similar species * Podisma pedestris occurs in similar habi• * Sphingonotus caerulans is more slender, tats, but is basically brown, marked with with longer wings. The hindwings are pale yellow and black. Its distribution is broadly blue, without a dark margin. Widespread similar, though it is found at lower altitudes. but local in dry places on the Continent. 72 ORTHOPTERA Groundhoppers, Family Season All year, in suitable weather. T etrigidae Similar species * T. tenuicornis is more thick-set and has A small group of rather inconspicuous slender antennae; there are usually 2 dark insects that have a pronotum which spots on the pronotum. In dry habitats extends back over the whole abdomen, and through continental Europe, rarest in the is sometimes prolonged beyond it. The west. forewings are reduced to scales, but the * T. biPunaoto is very similar to T. tenuicor• hindwings are well developed. They are all nis, but has shorter, thicker antennae, and vegetarian, and overwinter as adults or the 2 pronotum spots are especially well nymphs. They have no discernible song. marked. Widespread, especially in dry They are closely I-elated to the grasshop• places. pers, Acrididae, and resemble them super• ficially, but close examination reveals the Slender Groundhopper very different pronotum structure (see Telri:>: s1I/m/ala illustration below and on p.66). A slightly longer insect than the Common Common Groundhopper Groundhopper, reaching about ISmm to -- the tip of the pronotum. In this species, the pronotum extends well beyond the end of the abdomen, and the hindwings reach only to the end of the pronotum. The pronotum is less strongly keeled than in the above species. They can fly readily, and will groundhopper also swim. Habitat Damp places, often close to Common Groundhopper water. Telri:>: IIl1d1l/ala Status and distribution Local in the UK A small brown insect, with a body length of north as far as Lincolnshire; widespread about IOmm. In this species, the pronotum throughout the area on the Continent. reaches to about the end of the abdomen, Season Virtually all year. and is strongly arched; the wings are Similar species shorter than the pronotum. Cepero's Groundhopper T. ceperoi is Habitat Damp, but not usually wet places hard to separate from T. subu/oto In the such as woodland clearings, margins of field. It is slightly smaller, often more mot• Slender Groundhopper lakes and old pasture, where there is plenty tled, and the head is parallel-sided when of moss. seen from above. Rare in the UK. only Status and distribution Widespread occurring close to the S coast; a southern and locally frequent throughout the UK and species on the Continent, occurring mainland W Europe. patchily further north. 74 ORTHOPTERA Bush-crickets, Family Wart-biter Tettigoniidae Decticus verrucivorus A large and bulky insect, with a body length Although similar in appearance to the true of up to 3Bmm (male) and 4Smm (female). It grasshoppers in some respects, the bush• is predominantly green, mottled with brown crickets differ in possessing very long patches, and with brown eyes, though rather antennae (usually longer than the body), variable. The ovipositor is long and ~Iightly and the females have dagger-like oviposi• curved. Its call consists of long bursts of tick• tors. The wings are frequently much re• ing sounds, gradually speeding up, produced duced. Bush-crickets are more nocturnal mainly in sunny conditions. than grasshoppers. Habitat Open grassy places, especially in the uplands, and heaths. Long-winged Conehead Status and distribution Rare in the UK, Conocepha/us disc%r confined to a few extreme southern sites; A rather small, slender bush-cricket; its widespread on the Continent. body length is about ISmm, but the anten• Season 7-10. nae are much longer. Colour mainly green, Similar species with brown wings and a brown stripe on * Gampsodeis glabra is very similar in shape, the back. The female's ovipositor is virtually but smaller (up to 26mm, both sexes), and straight. The song consists of long bursts of the ovipositor is slightly down-curved. gentle sewing-machine ticking, of constant Local in similar habitats on the Continent, tone. absent further north. Habitat Long grass, in both dry and damp sites, often in river valleys. Great Green Bush-cricket Status and distribution Very local in Tettigonia viridissima the UK, and entirely southern, but it is Northern Europe's largest bush-cricket, gradually spreading inland; on the Conti• similar in body size to Wart-biter, but wIth nent, it is widespread in N Europe. south• longer wings. Both sexes are primarily wards from N Germany. green, with a brown stripe down the back, Season 7-10. and green eyes. Ovipositor long, reaching Similar species the tip of the wings, slightly down-curved. Short-winged Conehead C. dorsalis dif• The song is a loud continuous bicycle-like fers in having very short wings (except for ticking, which continues well into the night. a small percentage of the population), a Habitat Many types of rough vegetation, curved ovipositor, and a song that varies in from long grass to trees. intensity. It is local and mainly coastal in Status and distribution Mainly coastal the UK, from Yorkshire southwards, but in the UK, from Norfolk to Pembrokeshire; is found throughout the area on the widespread on the Continent except in the Continent. north and in mountains. * Ruspolia nitidula is a longer insect, up to Season 7-10. 30mm, with long green wings exceeding Similar species the abdomen in length, and a long slender * T. cantans is slightly smaller, and has much ovipositor. Locally common intall grassland shorter wings, so the ovipositor stands out from S Germany southwards. more clearly. Locally common in Europe in montane grasslands, from which the Great Green Bush-cricket is usually absent. 76 ORTHOPTERA Bog Bush-cricket strongly curved upwards. The call is a sin• /v1e/riu!'/ITd !,rd(/;V!I{iTd gle sho"t high-pitched bleat, repeated fre• A bulky but quite short insect; body length quently, well into the night. 15-18mm. Colour usually dark brown with Habitat Almost any rough vegetation. green on the pronotum and forewings, but Status and distribution Very common may be almost all bmwn (rather like Dark in the south of the UK, local elsewhere; 'i) Bush-cricket, see below). The ovipositor is widespread and common on the Conti• 8-1 Omm long, slightly curved upwards. The nent. song is a series of short chirrups, in long Season 7-11. sequences. Habitat Mainlya bog/wet heath species in Grey Bush-cricket the UK, but also in damp meadows on the I'/'Ilve/cis ,rI/IIi/IlIIl(/d/d Continent. Medium-sized, up to 22mm long. Rather Status and distribution Local and similar in colou,-ing to Dark Bush-cricket, mainly southern in UK, widespread and but is not bright yellow below, and both quite frequent on the Continent. sexes have long wings, extending beyond Similar species the abdomen.