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In the April 2000, No.8, issue of Worcestershire Record, Gary Farmer's article Identification Guide to Orthoptera of Worcestershire, the distribution maps showed the first Worcestershire record for the Short-winged Conehead Conocephalus dorsalis in Ipsley Alders, Redditch. In the following Worcestershire Record, No.9 Nov. 2000, he confirmed its establishment in the county, see Alive and Ticking. On the 8th September 2003, whilst returning from Ledbury, frustrated at having travelled to a non-existent field meeting, I decided to spend a few minutes looking for insects in Worcestershire.
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'Sweeping' in long grass on the verge of a small country lane near Upton-on-Severn, in warm sunshine, I netted two 'hoppers'. One was a Meadow Grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus but the second was much larger, very long-winged and had a long straight ovipositor. A female Long-winged Conehead Conocephalus discolor! There are no other records for this species in Worcestershire but, like its short-winged relative, it is in counties to the south of Worcestershire and may well be increasing its range northwards as so many species have done in recent years. |