The song of the Speckled Bush-cricket is barely audible to human ears, and unusually, unlike other bush-cricket species in Britain, both the male and female sing when it comes to finding a mate. Marion Hall and David Robinson have been studying the mating behaviour of the Speckled Bush-cricket for over 25 years and here they share their observations, including an introduction to the ecology, lifecycle, and distribution of this unusual orthopteran.
When wandering through a meadow on a warm summer’s afternoon, most people will be aware of the rasping chirps of grasshoppers. If they visit the New Forest in late summer, they may hear the gentle trilling of wood crickets emanating from under the fallen leaves. But the songs of bush-crickets – the third main group of orthopteran insects – are often not quite so obvious.