Dark Bush Cricket Nymph

It's just a baby. The flightless adults won't appear until the middle or end of June. Dark Bush Crickets, Pholidoptera griseoaptera, are widespread throughout the south of the UK They are omnivorous, eating a wide range of vegetation and small insects but are mostly found on Brambles or Nettles where they can often be found in numbers, sunbathing in warm summer sun. They love gardens, waste land and hedges.

They are true crickets and have chirping calls which differ in high or low temperatures. They aren't particularly loud so you have to listen carefully. The males are very territorial and if two meet their calls become aggressive to ward away an intruder.

The females lay their eggs in rotting wood or cracks in bark at the end of summer. These don't emerge for a full eighteen months. Before becoming adults they have to pass through six instar stages.

Lovely little creatures!