The recorder for this section is:

Dr Dave Chesmore 39 Hawthorn Drive, Holme on Spalding Moor, York, YO43 4HX

Tel: 01430 861964; email: dchesmore@googlemail.com or david.chesmore@york.ac.uk

 

In common with 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.

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

 

 

A new Yahoo Group “Yorks_Orthoptera” has been set up to promote recording of Orthoptera. It can be found at: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Yorks_Orthoptera/

Recent Sightings (2011)

The Speckled Bush-cricket has been found breeding in large numbers at a site in West Hull, just east of the Humber Bridge. A single nymph was found in the centre of Beverley and at least 10 stridulating adults were found on 11 August 2011 at North Cave Wetlands. It seems that this species is recolonising Yorkshire. The best way to find it is to use a bat detector tuned to 40kHz. The typical sound is a loud sharp “crack” every few seconds; the insect itself is quite cryptic and difficult to spot.

Yorkshire species and their status:

 

Tettigoniidae - Bush crickets

Meconema thalassinum     Oak bush-cricket      Found North-west of York up to Ripon and South-east of York to Holderness

Pholidoptera griseoaptera     Dark bush-cricket      One or two sites in E.Yorkshire. Old records from Beverley area and post 2000 records from the Whitby-Scarborough coast

Metrioptera brachyptera       Bog bush-cricket       Thorne Moors, North York Moors and Strensall Common near York

Metrioptera roeselii       Roessel’s bush-cricket     N. bank of Humber east of Hull

Concephalus dorsalis       Short-winged cone-head      N. bank of Humber east of Hull

Leptophyes punctatissima      Speckled bush-cricket       Confirmed breeding at several sites in the East Riding. One or two sites in S. Yorkshire

Phaneroptera falcata      Sickle-bearing Bush Cricket     One male found in 2010 near Hessle on the Humber. Probably a hitch-hiker

Tettigonia viridissima      Great Green Bush Cricket     Verified record of 1 female at the Dalby Visitor Centre post 2006 and 1 record prior to 1940 in Hemsworth

Gryllidae - True crickets

Acheta domesticus      House cricket       Widespread but not common

Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa     Mole cricket       1 site only - old record, probably extinct

Gryllodes supplicans      Tropical House Cricket   1 known indoor breeding site near Selby

Acridoidae - Ground-hoppers

Tetrix subulata      Slender ground-hopper      Rediscovered at Drax after 160 years; now widespread

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 and spreading west

Myrmeleotettrix maculatus       Mottled grasshopper         Widespread but not common

Dermaptera - Earwigs

Labia minor       Lesser earwig       One or two sites in E Yorkshire

Forficula auricularia        Common earwig        Common and widespread