Crickets & Grasshoppers for ID please

[tigger]

Visited my local urban nature reserve (unimproved grassland) the other day and found these. Can anyone help me with ID? Thanks. Jane

1. Cricket



2. Cricket



3. Cricket



4. Grasshopper



5. Grasshoppper



6 Grasshopper

[htcdude]

Hi tigger,

Sorry I can't help with the IDs, but just wanted to say great pics! How do you do it!?! I heard loads of crickets/hoppers today whilst walking but can never ever see any!!

Nige

[tigger]

Thanks Nige. This area is so full of them that it was easy to photograph them. Just stood in one place and clicked! Not very technical I'm afraid Jane

[GuyF]

1-3 show a female Bog Bush-cricket, does the nature reserve have some heathland type habitat too? The grasshoppers are all Meadow Grasshopper.
Guy

[tigger]

Many thanks Guy.

Interesting that it is Bog Bush cricket. The area (Cogdean Elms Nature Local Nature Reserve) isn't heathland or boggy - it is made up of two small meadows. See Cogdean Elms - dorsetforyou.com However, it is VERY near to Barrow Hills which IS lowland heath.

Thanks for the IDs - really helpful, as we are trying to record all the flora/fauna in our parish. Always nice to find a nationally scarce species!

Jane

[GuyF]

Interesting! The heaths in Dorset often have good colonies of Bog Bush-cricket, so I expect that this may be a wandering individual from the nearby heath. It would certainly be worth keeping an eye out for more in the coming months though as I believe a colony away from heathland would be very unusual!
Guy

[tigger]

This definitely wasn't the only one I saw - so I will go back to try to look for more. In fact I think 2 of these photos are one specimen and 1 was another (taken about 30ft away - half an hour later).

Thanks for all the info.

Cheers. Jane