Speckled bush-cricket


The grass-green body, which is about 15 millimetres ( in) long, carries minute black specks, as reflected in the common and Latin name of the species; in addition, the dorsal surface of the abdomen features a brown stripe; this is more pronounced in the male.[1][2] A yellow-white stripe extends backwards from the eyes.[3] The lower legs and feet are brownish.[2] The antennae are twice as long as the body.[1] The species is brachypterous: the male's forewings are reduced to small flaps, and those of the female are even more reduced.[1][2] The hindwings are completely absent, and both males and females are flightless.[1][2] The female's ovipositor is laterally compressed and curves sharply upwards.[1][2] The song of the male, produced by rubbing the right wing against a tooth-like projection at the base of the left,[1] is short (1 to 10 ms) and feeble; at a frequency of 40 kHz, it can best be heard with the aid of a bat detector. Unlike other cricket species, the female is able to respond to the male's calls with a weaker call of her own, which attracts the male to her.[1] The speckled bush-cricket is quite a common species, but its colouring and secretive lifestyle, hidden away in the undergrowth, mean that it often passes unnoticed.[2]


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Photo credit: © Murray Clarke / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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Keywords: beauty, black, bug, bush, canon, color, colours, cricket, flower, grasshopper, insect, lens, leptophyes, macro, orchid, punctatissima, purple, speckled, white