the north west of Essex, C. brunneus is much more local. On warm sunny days, it can
often be "kicked up" when walking through dry grassland where it can sometimes be
observed covering several metres in its seemingly haphazard flight.
Although the distribution map shows this grasshopper to be widespread, there are many
areas where it appears to be localised. This may be due to lack of field work and
illustrates that further recording even of a species as widespread as this, would be of
interest.
Chorthippus brunneus
Chorthippus parallelus: Meadow grasshopper
This is a medium-sized insect of green colouration and usually with brown wings. It
possesses forewings that extend almost, but not quite, to the tip of the abdomen in the
male, whilst the female, which is much larger, has very short forewings, so they can
appear to be two different species if observed casually.
C. parallelus is a very common insect in Essex and has been found in every 10km square
apart from TL44. In the extreme west of the County, it is genuinely far less common than
elsewhere, which is the case with several of our species.
It prefers lush grasses but inhabits most grasslands including sparse vegetation, where it
is found with the previous species, and the tall grasses of sea banks where it is found
with Chorthippus albomarginatus and Metrioptera roeselii. Almost throughout Essex it is
found in good numbers even on poor verges. However, like Chorthippus brunneus,
although widespread, many puzzling gaps in its distribution exist that further field
recording work, targeted in suitable areas might eliminate.
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