The Essex Naturalist
31
by David as new to the county has already been mentioned. Colin Plant has
been sending me spiders from Rushey Mead and material collected in December
included another rare Porrhomma, Porrhomma errans, together with a male and
female Saloca diceros, both Nationally Scarce species with tew records in the
county.
Grasshoppers, crickets and allied insects in Essex
Alan Ware
39 All Saints Terrace, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 6UA
Some time during 1997, The Grasshoppers and Crickets of Essex should be
published. This will contain full details of a survey started in 1980 and
continued up until the end of 1995 and will show all records on a 1km square
basis. In addition, all historical records going back to the last century will be
included.
The survey has produced several interesting observations. Roesel's Bush
Cricket Metrioptera roeselii is spreading out from its traditional coastal areas and
is now to be found in most parts of the county with the exception of the far
north-west.
Lesser Marsh Grasshopper Chorthippus albomarginatus is also showing similar
tendencies and is to be found much more inland than was previously the case.
The two groundhoppers, Tetrix subulata (Slender Groundhopper) and T.
undulata (Common Groundhopper) are much commoner than thought and,
although records are still patchy, should be looked for in most areas particulatly
in damp habitat.
Further good news is that, after a whirlwind colonisation out from its only
known stations in the New Forest and Sussex coastal areas, Conocephalus discolor
(Long-winged Conehead) has finally made it to Essex. It was found in the
extreme west of the county at Fishers Green in the Lea Valley by John Widgery,
who has recently taken over from Chris Haes as the National Orthoptera
Recorder. It had spread across neighbouring Hertfordshire in little under two
years and was widely expected in Essex. The insect is difficult to locate: it has a
very faint stridulation and prefers bushy vegetation which, with its green
coloration, makes its presence hard to find. The best results come from using a
converted bat detector. The first records were made last August and I am quite
sure the insect is well across Essex now and that new records will soon
accumulate.
One last record, also a first for Essex, concerns Ectobius pallidus (Tawny
Cockroach), which is a member of the closely related group of insects known as
the Dictyopteroides. A colony of these was found by Adrian Knowles of the