Oak Bush-cricket Meconema thalassinum
Oak Bush-cricket, female. Photo: R I Moyse.
Oak Bush-cricket is common and widespread, but is a nocturnally-active species of tree canopies (especially Oak trees) and so can be hard to detect - especially as the males do not sing. As a result it is under-recorded and likely to be more widespread than the map suggests. In Surrey, it was successfully surveyed using a combination of techniques: either searching in the evening for egg-laying females on the trunks of oak trees, or looking for the crushed remains of individuals blown from trees by strong autumn winds. During the day, individuals can be beaten from the lower branches of Oak trees.
Map showing records at tetrad (2km x 2km square) resolution. Colour of dot shows date-class of most recent record for that tetrad.
Southern Oak Bush-cricket Meconema meridionale
Southern Oak Bush-cricket, male - note the egg-shaped outline formed by the cerci. In Oak Bush-cricket, the outline is more even and circular. Photo: R I Moyse.
Southern Oak Bush-cricket, female. Photo: R I Moyse.
A new species to the UK, first recorded in 2001 following its northward spread through Europe, and with the first Kent record being in 2005. Though the species is flightless, spread has been relatively rapid, with evidence pointing towards the animals hitching rides on the outside of motor vehicles. Unfortunately, wings aside, this species is very similar to Oak Bush-cricket, making separation of the two species difficult at those times of the year when one or both are likely to be present as nymphs. Key features are the slightly more up-curved tip to the ovipositor in female Southern Oak Bush-crickets, and the difference in the shapes of the male cerci; Ted Benton (in his New Naturalist volume on Grasshoppers and Crickets) also notes differences in eye colour and the pattern on the pronotum. Wingless specimens late in season (both species are active through the autumn) are likely to be Southern Oak Bush-cricket.
Map showing records at tetrad (2km x 2km square) resolution. Colour of dot shows date-class of most recent record for that tetrad.