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Native Crickets & Grasshoppers. |
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Mick
Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 184 |
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Suzi, although Oxfordshire's nice enough, i envy you living in such a beautiful part of the country as Devon. I haven't visited there for years now, but i recall whenever i did i absolutely adored it, & i've got very fond memories of it. Anyway, i don't know if your son's ever told you, or not, but in Devon you're lucky enough to have at least 20 species of orthopterans made up out of grasshoppers, ground-hoppers & crickets! Also an orthopteran, you've even got naturalised Prickly Stick-insects in a few South Devon localities! Plus!, you're close to the top two outstanding UK orthoptera sites, those being The Dorset Heathlands & The New Foreast. Gemma, some orthopterans are indeed meant to be good indicators of good, rich fauna & flora habitats, just as, ironically, the spread northwards of some orthopterans - especially winged ones - is an indicator of global warming. Mind you, global warming won't bother the likes of Vivip' lizards for a while yet because as you said, they love munchin' through grasshoppers & crickets wherever they land! And yes, i couldn't stress enough that the book i've previously mentioned titled, Grasshoppers & allied Insects of Great Britain & Ireland, (also covers the Channel Islands) is definately the book to go for. Key it in & see what others say, but i promise that if you then order a copy, you won't regret it for a second! It's regarded as practically the definitive bible for our orthopteroid insects. Paperback version (published 1990) costs about ú20 & its 254 pages of text, drawings, colour plates, habitat photo's & distribution maps is worth every single penny!,..certainly one of the best value for money books i've ever bought. Peter, around now is peak activity time for our hopping orthopterans & so i'm well chuffed to hear you're getting out there & getting well stuck in to identifying & enjoying everything about them. Hopefully you'll report anything you suspect previously unknown of at a location to your county wildlife recording scheme officer, &/or the Biological Records Centre, Cambs. I think reporting your Roesel's Bush-Cricket sighting might prove worthwhile as that's one species that's still rapidly spreading its distribution. It's fairly loud, electrical discharge sounding buzz has been turning up all over the place here in north Oxfordshire where i am!, which i'm happy with as it's one of my favourites. |
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darrentshaw
Member Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 8 |
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Mick, We've got a Roesel's bush cricket near our house in Weldon, Northants. I've also found them near Fineshades Wood (also Northants). This summer we have a small colony of around 5-7 possibly grey bush crickets (or dark bush crickets) on our close. The past two years we've also had an oak bush cricket make an appearance (but not this year). I do have photos and video of the Roesel's BC. |
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Mick
Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 184 |
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Excellent stuff!, darrentshaw. Do report all these to your countys wildlife species recording scheme, won't you? The continued spread rate of Roesel's (often somehow in tandem with Long-Winged Coneheads) is amazing! Over the last few days i've been recording no end of sites along the edges of Banbury where Roesel's & L-W Coneheads (mainly none macropterous forms seen) have moved in. I've already sent all those records in to the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre where i'll likely be name credited with those finds (my lifes only chance of claims to fame!). Those other crickets would've most likely been Dark B-C's by the way (they chirp at night) as Greys are almost strictly coastal. And as Oak's are largely just tree living (& silent to us) it wouldn't mean there's none about just because you've not spotted any this year. They're elusive alright, but they're also actually rather common. I know for a fact they've always been, & still are, here in Banbury but annoyingly i've never seen ONE here myself! You've very likely also got Speckled B-C's (silent to hear, unless within inches, or using a bat detector) about in your neck of the woods, another common but often fairly hard to spot species. I myself tend to camcord' more often than photo' stuff.
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evilmike
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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this chap was rather large
quiet friendly too
Edited by evilmike |
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Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
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evilmike
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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sorry about the pic size its come out abit on the massive size
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Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
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herpetologic2
Forum Coordinator Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1511 |
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A great green bush -cricket Tettigonia viridissima ? Jon |
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evilmike
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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i survey bats, the racket from these chaps is unbelieveable sometimes
you can also listen to rats and mice on them |
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Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
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Mick
Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 184 |
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Yep!, that lovely big green beastie was indeed of course a Great Green Bush-cricket, & although this one was said to have been friendly they're actually able to give quite a nasty nip, & usually a bloody one! Look closely at the mandibles of one of these big beaut's & you'll see how. A few years back i watched one swiftly grab & completely polish off a Dark Bush-cricket in just 5 to 10 minutes! These - our loudest orthopteran, too, - can often easily be heard from a moving vehicle, especially in many southern near coastal vicinities where their numbers in road & roundaboutside bushes'n'hedges can be rather plentiful & create one almighty chorus together! Music to me, i love 'em! This often fairly localised though still regularly abundant cricket in many places exists through much of southern England & south Wales.
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Suzi
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1025 |
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Brother to his girlfriend "Just hold the cricket please while I take a picture of it." - Yep it bit her! A great picture. |
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Suz
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Mick
Member Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 184 |
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It sometimes surprises some people how late into the year a few of our annual orthopterans manage to cling to life, although by november there's hardly any calling to be heard making spotting any grasshoppers & crickets by then extremely difficult. However, in a sloped, south facing tussocky patch in my back garden here in Banbury, north oxfordshire, on friday, november 9th, i still managed to spot a female Long-Winged Conehead Bush-cricket (hadn't heard, or seen any of that species in almost a month), & one female & three male Grasshoppers (think Common Field species). I usually think of Guy Fawkes night, or rather of course that day anyway, as being roughly around the last time to spot any surviving Grasshoppers. But not this year though, as even today - & following an overnight frost, too! (possibly first autumn frost here) - i was surprised to still be able to spot two female & two male Grasshoppers...on november 14th! There can't exactly be any unfinished business for them by now so they've gotta be right hardy little things to still just about cling to life like that. They could well be all gone by tomorrow, finally,...those nice, songful little reminders of summer. Oh well,..another spring'n'summer awaits though.
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