Grey Bush-cricket Platycleis albopunctata

 Grey Bush-cricket, female. Photo R I Moyse.

A medium-sized bush-cricket which is overall rather a drab grey, and generally best distinguished from similar species by its full-length wings and green or yellowish underside. However, it can be a difficult species to see, as it keeps to cover of dense grasses or low scrub. The call of the males is fairly distinctive, and a bat detector is perhaps the most effective way of finding them. The species is considered Nationally Scarce and is mainly limited to Southern England and South Wales. In Kent it is primarily limited to the south and east coasts, especially Dungeness and Sandwich Bay. However, there are some inland records shown on the map below, which have been included as potentially correct, despite the possibility of confusion with other species.

 Map showing records at tetrad (2km x 2km square) resolution. Colour of dot shows date-class of most recent record for that tetrad.

Roesel's Bush-cricket Roeseliana roeselii
(previously Metrioptera roeselii)

Roesel's Bush-cricket, male. Left, typical form with short wings. Right, long winged (macropterous) form, known as forma diluta. Photos R I Moyse.

A medium-sized bush-cricket with a characteristic yellow or green margin to the pronotum. The typical, short-winged form does not fly, and this was previously a species of restricted distribution in Britain; in Kent, it was generally thought of as a species of the Thames Estuary. Since the 1980s, it has enjoyed a period of rapid expansion in its distribution, and it is now more-or-less ubiquitous in suitable habitat - tall grassland - across Kent. This expansion appears linked to an increased frequency in the occurrence of the long-winged form, which is able to fly, is almost certainly the result of increased temperatures.

Map showing records at tetrad (2km x 2km square) resolution. Colour of dot shows date-class of most recent record for that tetrad.

Dark Bush-cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera

Dark Bush-cricket, female. Photo R I Moyse.

A very common and widespread species of coarse grassland and scrubby habitats. Though similar to the Grey Bush-cricket, the females are without wings and the males retaining just a stubby pair of forewings for the purposes of stridulation. They are largely nocturnal, and the males' chirps are commonly heard after dark. They also survive somewhat later in the year than some other species, and can be seen or heard well into October.

Map showing records at tetrad (2km x 2km square) resolution. Colour of dot shows date-class of most recent record for that tetrad.