The Essex Naturalist
17
Reports from the Club's Recorders
The following are the un-refereed reports of the Essex Field Club's Recorders.
Essex Orthoptera in 1996
Alan Wake
39 All Saints Terrace, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 6UA
Although records received are relatively few, some significant changes are
evidently afoot amongst the grasshoppers and crickets of Essex. Four species in
particular warrant special mention here.
Metrioptera roeselii Roesel's Bush-cricket is still spreading gently away from
its previous coastal stronghold and should be appearing in the north-west of the
county any time now. There have already been reports in 1996 of stridulating
males at the Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Rushey Mead near Bishops
Stortford and at a few other places on the Essex/Hertfordshire county boundary.
All Essex records of this species should be submitted as soon as possible.
Conocephalus discolor Long-winged Cone-head, having been found just in
Essex for the first time in 1995 should be well across the county by now. It is
present all across Hertfordshire but due to its colouration and very faint
stridulation, needs searching for with a converted bat detector. It colonises
rough grassland and ditches, etc, and seems very catholic in its choice of habitat.
Any records of this new species to Essex will be most welcome.
Tetrix subulata Slender Ground-hopper and Tetrix undulata Common
Ground-hopper are both under-recorded but are much more common than
previously thought, particularly T. subulata. Both species prefer moist habitats.
Chorthippus albomarginatus Lesser Marsh Grasshopper is also colonising
more and more inland habitat away from the traditional estuarine systems and
should be looked for in grassland anywhere in the county. Again, all records
should be sent in to allow a proper analysis of the wider picture in Essex.
A new book, Grasshoppers and Crickets of Essex, was published during 1997. It
contains distribution maps for all species of Essex Orthoptera on a one-kilometre
and five-kilometre square basis as well as details of some of the richest areas in
the county for these insects. The information is based on a survey carried out
between 1980 and 1990. It does not seek to duplicate any of the mote recent
publications on Orthoptera regarding identification, stridulation, etc but does
contain a comprehensive historical content of the Essex Orthoptera over the
last century or so. It will, hopefully, stimulate people in Essex to look at these
insects more closely and perhaps contribute to further recording, particularly on
a site related basis.
All records will be gratefully received.