Great Green Bush-cricket, Tettigonia viridissima

Identification

Body length; males 40mm to 50mm, females 40mm to 50mm + 20mm to 25mm ovipositor. Wings extend well beyond the tip of the abdomen.

The entire body and limbs are a grass green colour. A brown stripe runs down over the top of the head, thorax and wings in the closed position. There is a pair of white bands running down either side of the underside of the abdomen. The female ovipositor is very slightly down-curved.

Behaviour and life history

The colour of these bush-crickets makes them extremely difficult to locate, even when aided by their distinctive song. Young nymphs spend most of their time in coarse grassland whilst older nymphs and adults are more arboreal and frequent clumps of scrub, brambles and shrubs. The males call through the afternoons and into night during warm weather from late July onwards. This bush-cricket is omnivorous with invertebrates making up the bulk of their diet, although grass, and other vegetation is also eaten. The female lays her eggs in late summer directly into the ground. After over-wintering as an egg, the nymphs emerge from mid May onwards and are mature by late July.

Song

An unmistakeable prolonged shrill buzzing call that carries for about 100 m or more in still conditions.

Where to look for it

In Plymouth the species is to be found in unmanaged coarse grasslands partially overgrown by scrub and brambles or in coastal grassland with scrub cover. The most accessible sites for viewing this bush-cricket are around Jennycliff, Ernesettle/Upper St Budeaux, Ham Valley Local Nature Reserve, and Ford Park Cemetery.

Distribution and status

Locally frequent.

When to look for it

Nymphs, from May to July; adults, from mid July to the end of October.

Similar species

Its large size and wings, which extend well beyond the tip of the abdomen, should make adults of this species it unmistakeable.

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