Crickets in Scotland?

[Amoeba]

Does anybody know if there are, or ever has been any naturally occurring cricket species in Scotland? I tried doing some google searches but no matter how I changed the wording I kept getting the sport... -_-

[RoyW]

Hi,

I have just had a quick look at distribution maps and the following can be found in south-west Scotland;
Dark Bush Cricket, Pholidoptera griseoaptera.
Bog Bush Cricket, Metrioptera brachyptera.
Speckled Bush Cricket, Leptophyes punctatissima.

Oak Bush Cricket, Meconema thalassinum, has been recorded near Edinburgh - it is possible that this was an introduction though.

You should be able to find distribution maps for these by searching the National Biodiversity Network website.

Roy.

PS. Also Common Groundhopper and several species of Grasshopper in Scotland.

[Jason Green]

You kept getting sporting results? Easily remedied - remove the term 'Cricket'...

Apparently 31% of Scotland's grasshopper and cricket species have become extinct in the last 100 years. The Bog Bush-cricket Metrioptera brachyptera and Large Heath Coenonympha tullia are only found in one bog site in Scotland which was threatened by plans to turn it into a landfill site in 2003/4. I don't know the result...

HTH

[Amoeba]

Thanks that website is quite insightful. Looking at maps just now.

That's a shame that so many have died out lately. I wonder why crickets and grasshoppers don't do too well here? Is it the cold?

[mulattokid]

Its the summer cold thats the problem - not the winter cold. Indeed you get much much colder winters in countries with hundreds of species. In Scotland it does not get warm enough for long enough for them to reach maturity and therefore breed. The Dark Bush cricket just manages itin SW Scotland, but the same cricket is often still stridulating in late October or even early November in Southern England - a testiment to its hardiness.