National Insect Week returns in 2022
(Meconema thalassinum)
Crickets & grasshoppers
© Roger Key
Oak bush-cricket (Meconema thalassinum)
Lime green with a pale yellow stripe along the back. The females have a long ovipositor (egg-laying tube).
Found in trees, hedgrerows and shrubs
Nymphs can be seen from June and adults appear in July to the autumn months
An arboreal species and the only largely carnivorous bush-cricket that eats other small invertebrates. Females lay their eggs in bark, mosses and lichens.
The oak bush-cricket does not 'sing' like many other crickets but uses its legs to drum on leaves and branches instead.
The Midlands, Wales and southern England
Wasps, hornetsĀ & bees, many insects such as hoverflies replicate their colours without having stings.
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