Roesel’s Bush Cricket
Taxonomy
Orthoptera » Ensifera » Tettigonioidea » Tettigoniidae » Decticinae » Metrioptera roeselii
Status
UK
Distribution Map
Colours show the year of the last record -
| up to 1987 | 1988-97 | 1998 up to present |
Only Recording Scheme datasets are included. Other datasets on the Gateway may hold additional information.
Recordings
Description
Usually dark brown and yellow but sometimes tinged green or rarely completely green. Broad cream-coloured margin all the way around the sides of the pronotum, and three pale yellow spots on the sides of the thorax.
Size
13-26 mm
Wings
Usually short-winged (brachypterous) and flightless, but a fully winged form able to fly (f. diluta) is not uncommon in hot summers
Stridulation
Penetrating and continuous high pitched buzzing like the crackle of overhead electricity cables
Food
Omnivorous, but feeding mostly on grass and other vegetation.
Habitat
Saltmarshes and dunes in coarse vegetation but currently expanding its range west and north to urban wasteland and agricultural set-aside.
Phenology
Nymphs emerge in late May and June. Adults present from late July until autumn.