Yorkshire Naturalists' Union

Orthoptera - Grasshoppers, crickets and earwigs

The recorder for this section is:

A Grayson  11 McMahon Drive, Clayton Heights, Queensbury, Bradford BD13 1HD  Tel:01274 418850

 

 In common wOak bush-cricketith other orders of insects, Orthoptera have been advancing northwards over the last two decades. However so far no  new species  have reached Yorkshire since the publication of the definitive study (Marshall and Haes, Grasshoppers and Allied Insects of Great Britain and Ireland, 1988). However a number of species not seen after the middle of the twentieth century, and appearing as open dots on the Marshall and Haes distribution maps, have been rediscovered in recent years. Bog bush cricket

Excluding exotic introductions that can only survive in artificial conditions, seventeen species can be found in Yorkshire. Many however have a very limited distribution and several are confined to one or two sites. Further details of Yorkshire species and their distribution can be found on the Orthoptera Recording website www.orthoptera.org.uk


Yorkshire species and their status:


Tettigoniidae

Bush crickets

 

Meconema thalassinum

Oak bush-cricket

One or two sites in E.Yorkshire

Pholidoptera griseoaptera

Dark bush-cricket

One or two sites in E.Yorkshire

Metrioptera brachyptera

Bog bush-cricket

Thorne Moors; some lowland heaths in Vale of York

Metrioptera roeselii

Roessel’s bush-cricket

N. bank of Humber below Hull

Concephalus dorsalis

Short-winged cone-head

N. bank of Humber below Hull

Leptophyes punctatissima

Speckled bush-cricket

One or two sites in S. Yorkshire

Gryllidae

True crickets

 

Acheta domesticus

House cricket

Widespread but not common

Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa

Mole cricket

1 site only

Acridoidae

Ground-hoppers

 

Tetrix subulata

Slender ground-hopper

2 sites in SE yorkshire

Tetrix undulata

Common ground-hopper

Widespread

Gomphocerinae

True grasshoppers

 

Omocestus viridulus

Common green grasshopper

Common and widespread

Chorthippus brunneus

Field grasshopper

Common and widespread

Chorthippus parallellus

Meadow grasshopper

Widespread

Chorthippus albamarginatus

Lesser marsh grasshopper

N. bank of Humber

Myrmeleotettrix maculatus

Mottled grasshopper

Widespread but not common

Dermaptera

Earwigs

 

Labia minor

Lesser earwig

One or two sites in E Yorks

Forficula auricularia

Common earwig

Common and widespread