Long-winged Conehead mating question.

[Geoff F]

On the edge of woodland, S. Devon.

Saw what I took to be a pair of mating Long-winged Coneheads amongst the grass but before I could find a suitable camera angle they seperated and the female came out onto a grass leaf.

I noticed what looks like jelly blobs on her abdomen. She bent her tail underneath then grasped the blobs in her mouth and started eating them.

Suddenly, I realised that I know absolutely nothing about the life cycle of Crickets and Grasshoppers.

So, firstly, is this definitely a Long-winged Conehead. Secondly, can anybody explain what is happening here or point me to a site where I can read more about them. I've had a look around the sites that I normally use but detailed information appears to be scarce.

[thunder]

Yes, the straight ovipositor shows this is a Long-winged Conehead. In the bush-crickets the spermatophore (bag of sperm, if you like) produced by the male is attached externally. Your top picture apparently shows the female sitting on this, which is presumably when she absorbs the sperm. The rest of this jelly-looking stuff is called the spermatophylax, which is full of protein, and provides a meal for the female. This will assist her in egg production. The lower pictures show her eating it. The spermatophylax may represent quite a high proportion of the male's bodyweight.

henrya

[aeshna5]

Well done Geoff for capturing this amazing sequence of shots- something I've never observed despite regularly seeing this bush-crickets.

The female normally chews a hole in usually a grass or rush stem + inserts her ovipositor to deposit an egg. Compared with other species development of nymphs is quite late with first not emerging until June/July.

Sadly I can't hear this species anymore without a bat detector.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the information. I was assuming that the 'jelly bags' contained sperm but wasn't sure what or how happened next.

Until something like this starts me thinking I forget just how ignorant I am in so much of what happens around me - and there is so little time left to try to learn so much.

I assume, then, that the eggs remain in the grass over winter and hatch next summer. That is a long time to wait.

Pity I couldn't have captured the mating process as well, but it was going on underneath the layer of grass. I could just about make out what I thought was happening but it was impossible to get a camera angle. But I suspose even a cricket deserves some privacy.