WART-BITER |
DECTICUS VERRUCIVORUS |
|
| Fig 1 |
DESCRIPTION: A robust looking cricket with males reaching up to 34mm in length and females attaining a length of 42mm. Adults are fully winged, generally green in colour with variable amounts of dark brown spotting. The eye is dark, the wings green and the underbelly buff to creamy brown, The cerci are yellowish, the ventral surfaces of the hind femora yellow and the females ovipositor is beige at the base becoming darker brown towards the tip. BEHAVIOUR: A skulking species that likes to hide away in dense tussocks although it will bask in full sun but will soon scuttle away if disturbed. The song is delivered from a perch on the tussocks and is a series of high-pitched clicks. Females lay their eggs in the soil. DISTRIBUTION: A very rare insect found in a handful of small populations in southern Britain. HABITAT: In Britain this species is at the northern edge of its range with all populations found on calcereous downland slopes and with 1 population on grassy heathland. PERIOD: May to October if weather is ideal. |