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RAUK - Archived Forum - Native Crickets

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Mick
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Joined: 10 Jun 2005
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Posted: 17 Aug 2005
Just wondering if anyone about on here - besides being into herptiles - might, like me, also be into our native orthopterans, by which i mainly mean grasshoppers & crickets, especially bush-crickets. A few species of our bush-crickets, like Long-Winged Coneheads & Roesel's, are nowadays seriously expanding their distributions. Those two species are now in at least twice as many counties as they were just a few years ago! Overall, it's pretty exciting times to be into our orthoptera,..if anyone else here is. I love the songful little creatures & couldn't possibly imagine a summer without hearing them.    
Caleb
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Posted: 18 Aug 2005
I like them as well, but I'm certainly no expert. I don't think we get many interesting species up here in Co. Durham...

Do you know of any websites with recordings of their calls? I'd like to be able to tell what some of them are likely to be, without having to dive through brambles to have a look at them.Caleb38582.4806712963
-LAF
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Posted: 18 Aug 2005
Funny you should say that Mick, the missus sent me a picture of a cricket from Kent the other day that looked just like an early instar long-wing cone-head (female with much straighter ovopositor than the species I am familiar with). I told her to send it in to the county recorder in case it was. The picture is here:



Don't suppose you've got a more confident ID you could give? I'm quite fascinated by the orthoptera but my knowledge is seriously limited. Always try and get pictures when I see new ones though!

Regards, Lee.-LAF38582.4863425926
Lee Fairclough
Suzi
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Posted: 18 Aug 2005

Been walking on the south coast path near Branscombe today - very hot - lots of interesting flowers, butterflies and a large dark bush cricket. I get these in my garden and I was amazed to hear them calling in November. I have several types of grasshopper live in the garden but no idea on what they are!

I get other crickets as well but probably like many people am a bit poor on ID. Nice to go for a walk with my son who is like Mick and interested in them AND good on ID.

 


Suz
Mick
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Posted: 19 Aug 2005

Thanks guys, three replies already, excellent! As with herptiles, i'm always still learning (even at 40!) & wouldn't ever profess to being any more than an amateur, & just like yourself, Caleb, i'm certainly no expert on our orthopterans but over about the last 8y'rs i've just become more & more fascinated by them. I think it was from several of our herptiles including these fair sized - & so relatively easy to study - bugs in their diets that my interest in them just blossomed. We've hardly got the diversity of them that continental europe enjoys (yet!) but many people would still be quite surprised to learn the amount of species we have got though, which includes a few biggies, our largest - & noisiest! - being the Great Green Bush-Cricket (over 2"long, & when basking with limbs stretched about 3.25"long!). Unfortunately, Caleb, the majority of grasshopper & cricket species (orthoptera also including ground hoppers, locusts, stick-insects, cockroaches & earwigs) in the UK are presently in & around the south & stretching about a third to half way up our east & west coasts. Of the hopping variety of orthopterans in Co. Durham, my treasured copy of GRASSHOPPERS & ALLIED INSECTS of Great Britain & Ireland (Harley Books / order ISBN 0-946589-36-4) reveals species of those to be found there are: Common Green Grasshopper; Field Grasshopper; Meadow Grasshopper; Mottled Grasshopper, & one of the mini type of grasshoppers, the Common Ground-hopper (which can hibernate, & even swim!). Another possibly still Co. Durham existing species is the alien House-Cricket. Take account though that, although i'd definately very highly recommend the above mentioned book, no book can quite keep pace with the present expanding distribution rate of a few of our orthopterans (nor new aliens). As for the calls of the UK's grasshoppers & crickets, i'm not sure of any websites with playable recordings of them on. But, like the title of that book, there's also a cheap, 30minute audio cassette you could order from any good book shop (or, probably on-line too) called, A Sound Guide to the Grasshoppers & Allied Insects of Great Britain & Ireland (again Harley Books / order ISBN 0 946589 22 4). I've got a cassette of it & it's pretty good, with 26 songful species recorded in various single, courtship & group situations.

LAF, that's a lovely close-up Conehead photo' your missus took. Glad you advised her to send the record in & hopefully she might get credited with a new grid referenced location find, especially seen as it's Short-Winged Conehead's that are known from Kent, & if - as i think - Long-Winged Conehead's are now also colonising there, then that's only relatively recently. Kent's anyhow an absolutely superb county for its variety of orthoptera. Long-Winged Conehead's have really expanded their range though, now even way inland to central England & the top tip of north Oxfordshire, where i am. I believe i'm down as having first discovered them here in Banbury, near & around our reservoir. I always send in records which i know, or suspect to be fresh finds. Without seeing a micro close-up of the cerci, or a side view of the ovipositor, i couldn't really say for sure which of our two native Conehead species your missus' one is (& i could be wrong but fairly sure i somewhere heard an alien 3rd species might've been discovered here!(?)). But anyway, your knowledge is hardly seriously limited, as your quite correct on what you said of female Conehead's egg-laying ovipositors. Whereas the Long-Winged Conehead ovipositor is nearly straight, the Short-Winged-Conehead ovipositor is upcurved. I'd say the pretty girl in the photo' is about 2/3rds grown. Stay Fascinated!

Suzi, where you were, or are, at Branscombe, there's no shortage of orthopteran variety there! Also, that's just a stone's throw from the UK's top two outstanding sites for orthoptera, namely Dorset & The New Forest. Dark Bush-Crickets are one of our longest annual survivors of grasshoppers & crickets. I myself in 2002 recorded Dark B-C nymphs out on april 5th &, believe it, or not, adults have been found alive into December! (Doubt capable of more than maybe a swan-song by then though!) Anyway, glad to hear your son's into orthoptera & is able to help you with identifying species. He's obviously a wise chap who appreciates the little things in life, & their songs! Why not look on the net, or borrow a book, or two of his & polish up on identifying for yourself?, although i'd have to say i often still have trouble positively visually identifying a few of our grasshoppers. Anyway, cheers all!      

   


Suzi
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Posted: 19 Aug 2005

Mick

Thanks for the reply. I get several sorts of grasshoppers in the garden so will have to look more carefully and take some pix to perhaps get an ID.

I live in East Devon BTW. Branscombe is quite near to me. It's good some days to go walking in the hedged lanes and hear the many crickets calling.


Suz
GemmaJF
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Posted: 19 Aug 2005
I hadn't realised there was so much to them.. I was kinda glad this year to hear them chirping away in the garden, always a good sign things are right in a wildlife garden me thinks and I love it in the field when they are everywhere to be seen, vivi lizards are usually not too far away.. I'm at the level of there are big ones and small ones and some have funny colours..I had better start taking more notice of them. Mick, is GRASSHOPPERS & ALLIED INSECTS a good place to start?
Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant
herpetologic2
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Posted: 20 Aug 2005

 

Well eventually their chirping will disappear as we get older - we lose that part of our hearing - I remember walking round a site with a badger consultant a few years older than me - well 40 or 50 years older - I kept asking him can you hear all those crickets - answer NO

So I have a bat detector ready for the day when i can no longer hear the little critters.....

I have meadow grass hoppers on my lawn and speckled bush crickets on the runners this year

 


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Peter Vaughan
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Posted: 20 Aug 2005
Two weeks ago, while on Magdalen Hill Down butterfly reserve near Winchester, I saw an insect I'd not come across before - which turned out to be Roesel's Bush-cricket.  That, and seeing a full grown Great Green Bush-cricket in Dorset, inspired me to try to identify the orthopterans on my local wet-heathland reserve.  I've so far found Long-winged Conehead bush crickets and Meadow Grasshoppers - no doubt there are other species there as well.  I'm using the FSC laminated sheet "Guide to British Grasshoppers and allied insects" - which is clear and simple.   I've also got "Grasshoppers" by VK Brown, one of the Naturalist's Handbooks series (ISBN 0 85546 277 9) which I've found full of interesting stuff on UK species and which also has an id section.
Peter Vaughan
Suzi
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Posted: 20 Aug 2005

It's true about losing our ability to hear the crickets. My son will often point their chirping out to me and if I stop I can hear them but I'm seldom the one to hear them first.

I can recognise most inland birds by their song or calls and dread the day when I can no longer hear birdsong. Both my parents (77) can no longer hear warblers singing.


Suz
Mick
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Posted: 21 Aug 2005
Nice close-up study photo' there of a female Speckled Bush-Cricket, herpetologic2, & clearly showing all those speckles, which aren't obvious unless getting close-up like that. Along with the leaf tapping & mainly tree living Oak Bush-Cricket (alien Southern Oak B-C's now become UK resident as well), the flightless Speckled is one of our very few almost inaudible to the human ear species. However, if ones hearing is still good, then on a still day & carefully getting as close as herpetologic2's photo', it is still just about possible to hear a male Speckled's calls, as i've managed to do. This is our only bush-cricket species in which females can also call, although even more weakly so than the males. I've got Speckled's in my garden too & i'm glad to usually find there's a few more of the inconspicuous chaps about than i'd think. Like the Conehead's & maybe one, or two other bush-cricket species, Speckleds, - & their nymphs - from what i've seen, tend to almost always stick to keeping well clear of the ground, & so in a half wild left garden such as mine with good numbers of frogs & toads on the prowl, that's a wise'n'wary thing to do for insects that are both day & night active. In England & Wales, Speckled, Oak & Dark are our most common & widely distributed bush-crickets, but with those first two species usually requiring a bat detector to hear them, most people wouldn't know they're around. Some people also have difficulty hearing the high-pitched stridulating of Conehead species, whereas others, like myself, can thankfully hear them from ten yards away. But alas, no doubt bat detector time will eventually arrive for me as well. Meanwhile though, for this year there's still about two months of good ortoptera calling to go, & i'm gonna make the most of it.
Mick
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Posted: 21 Aug 2005

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. 


darrentshaw
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Posted: 30 Aug 2005

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.


Mick
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Posted: 31 Aug 2005

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.

  


evilmike
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Posted: 01 Sep 2005

this chap was rather large

 

quiet friendly too

 

 

evilmike38596.5819097222
Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
evilmike
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Posted: 01 Sep 2005

sorry about the pic size its come out abit on the massive size

 

 


Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
herpetologic2
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Posted: 01 Sep 2005

 

 A great green bush -cricket Tettigonia viridissima ?

Jon


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Caleb
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Posted: 02 Sep 2005
I did eventually find a website with some calls on it- the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall have a page here
with recordings of almost all of the Cornish species, also some notes on using bat detectors.

I've had a bat detector for ages, it never occured to me to use it for orthopteran calls, though.
evilmike
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Posted: 02 Sep 2005

i survey bats, the racket from these chaps is unbelieveable sometimes

 

you can also listen to rats and mice on them


Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
Mick
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Posted: 02 Sep 2005
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.    

- Native Crickets

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