Delighted to come home from a day out today & find my gratis copy of the superb new Bloomsbury Orthopteroids book has been delivered. The book we've been wanting for a long time. Get a copy & get out there recording these fabulous creatures! #orthoptera #ukorthoptera
A photograph of the cover of the Field Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allies of Great Britain and Ireland.
It arrived today. Very proud to have been able to make a teeny-weeny contribution to this superb new book. #ukorthoptera #orthoptera
A green bush-cricket with short brown wings which only reach about half-way along its abdomen. Its pointed head (to the left) explains why it is called a 'conehead'.
Also from Castle Coote yesterday, this smart-looking Short-winged Conehead male. What it was doing right out on the saltmarsh, I'm not sure. #Orthoptera #ukorthoptera #KentNature
A grasshopper with a red-purple head, thorax and hind legs. It's wings are yellow brown. White tips on the antennae confirm it as a Rufous Grasshopper. It sits on a dead plant stem.
Purple colour form of Rufous Grasshopper at Folkestone Warren on Friday. Not a variety I've noticed before, but it is in the books. #grasshoppers #Orthoptera #ukorthoptera #KentNature
A largely green, medium-sized grasshopper with curved, white edges to top of the pronotum, and forewings with a white leading edge and a central white mark.
Smart male Stripe-winged Grasshopper from grassland at Holly Hill on the Birling Estate me Snodland today. #Orthoptera #ukorthoptera #grasshoppers #KentNature
A level area of flower-rich herbaceous vegetation, with buildings in the background.
Lesser Marsh Grasshopper. A straw-coloured grasshopper with a pale wing-stripe, against a background of dried grass.
A Pantaloon Bee, with its rear towards the camera, as it excavates sand from its nest burrow.
Bee-wolf. A wasp with a broad black-and-yellow abdomen, sitting on a leaf.
Exploring the Rochester Riverside area, currently being developed, for Orthoptera. Flower-rich, "brownfield" vegetation heaving with Field, Meadow, & Lesser Marsh Grasshoppers. Also Pantaloon Bees & LOTS of Bee-wolves. #ukorthoptera #bees #solitarybees #wasps #solitarywasps #brownfield #KentNature
A view of a grassy Downland slope with trees and scrub behind, and a grey sky.
A green and brown grasshopper hiding amongst blades of grass.
To Hollingbourne Downs to look for #Orthoptera. Stripe-winged (pic), Field & Meadow Grasshoppers; Roesel's, Dark & Speckled Bush-crickets; & Long-winged Conehead. Was hoping for Rufous (site looks suitable), but there appears to be a big gap in its distribution in Mid-Kent. #ukorthoptera #KentNature
A small, grasshopper-like insect sitting on a green leaf. It has very long, slender antennae. The saddle-like pronotum behind the head has a pale yellow margin.
Roesel's Bush-cricket nymph in the garden today. Kinda cute.
And nice to have evidence of breeding. This is a species that lays in grass stems, so needs tall vegetation to stand over winter.
#KentNature #ukorthoptera
I'm relieved to say that I have now cleared the backlog of 20k 'proper' Orthoptera & Dermaptera records on iRecord. There remain 250 roaches & phasmids which are trickier cos I'm not as good on them + stuff ported in from iNat. Here are 3 Slender Groundhoppers from today to celebrate! #ukorthoptera
Hands up anyone else who was watching #Detectorists last night and went "Oh! Roesel's Bush-cricket."
#Orthoptera #UKOrthoptera
Slender Groundhopper swept by Nigel Jones.
This looks like a gravid female. The widely-spaced eyes do confirm that she is a girl, anyway.
Good numbers of Slender Groundhoppers yesterday in Melverley at the marshy edge of a pond. First one swept by @lancefly.bsky.social then I saw another 10 or so, including what looks like a rather fat ie gravid female. Would be a little early, though Apr/May is the breeding season. #ukorthoptera
A tiny grasshopper nymph standing on my finger, seen today at a private site south of Clun, Shropshire. Must be one of my earliest ever sightings. Perhaps Field Grasshopper, but a bit small for me! #ukorthoptera
A close-up of the front half of an Egyptian Grasshopper. The grasshopper is clinging to a pinkish plant stem. It is head upwards, but tipped slightly backwards.
... and this is an Egyptian Grasshopper which came to me from a Kent plant nursery back in October 2006. #ukorthoptera
There is a good app called iRecord Grasshoppers which contains an ID guide to Orthoptera and related species and then allows you to add records to iRecord. Check it out!
#ukorthoptera
male Roesel's Bush-cricket, macropterous form (f. diluta).
Today I have 'graduated' to being a national verifier for Orthopteroid insects on iRecord. Please do record your observations when the new season gets underway. In the meantime, there is a bit of a backlog to be worked through (c. 20,000 records) so please bear with me..!
#ukorthoptera
#ukorthoptera
Here is a link to an identification key for British Orthoptera. NB It doesn't cover all species as it is regional.
