Speckled Bush-cricket Leptophyes punctatissima (Bosc, 1792) (Orth., Tettigoniidae) eating the fruit valves of Hoary Stock in Worcestershire

P.F. Whitehead

Paul F. Whitehead, Moor Leys, Little Comberton, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 3EH email: paul@thewhiteheads.eu

On 6 October 2012 an enterprising female Speckled Bush-cricket Leptophyes punctatissima (Bosc) was observed consuming, with some alacrity, the surface tissues of a fruit-valve of a Hoary Stock (Matthiola incana (L.) W. T. Aiton) growing in a sunny spot in my garden in Little Comberton (SO94) (Fig. 1). As this scarce plant has only been grown here for two years it must indicate the wide-ranging tastes of this bush-cricket.

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Fig. 1 Female Speckled Bush-cricket masticating and consuming the fruit-valve of a Hoary Stock, Little Comberton, 6 October 2012