Worcestershire Record No. 25 November 2008 p. 7

BUSH-CRICKETS – ORTHOPTERA, TETTIGONIIDAE – FIRST SIGHTINGS 2008

Gary Farmer

Grasshoppers do not have sufficient characteristics to be identified to species in the field until they have passed through two or three moults (instars), but bush crickets can be identified even as tiny first instars.

The list below is of my first sightings of bush crickets in Worcestershire in 2008.

Dark Bush-cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera 1st instar found on bramble in Monk Wood 10th May.
Roesel's Bush-cricket Metrioptera roeselii 1st instar swept from tussock grasses in Arrow Valley Park, Redditch 21st May.
Long-winged Conehead Conocephalus discolor 1st instar feeding on buttercup pollen in Arrow Valley Park, Redditch 21st May.
Speckled Bush-cricket Leptophyes punctatissima 1st instar on mullien in the grounds of Witley Court 24th May.
Oak Bush-cricket Meconema thalassinum 2nd instar in privet hedge in Redditch 15th June.

 
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