Having posted a Meadow Grasshopper yesterday, today I thought I’d present the other two common species from this area.
The main image shows a strikingly marked female Lesser Marsh Grasshopper (Chorthippus albomarginatus). This species often looks quite pale and wan, and the identification guides tell you that this drabness is diagnostic, but it’s clearly not universal. Some of them also state that the Lesser Marsh never has dark hind knees, but as I said yesterday, I don’t think dark knees are a reliable feature, and here, on cue, is the proof. Because this definitely is a Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, the key features being straight pronotal side keels, and long, functional wings with sharply expanded radial cells and a white stripe along the edge. There’s also a little bulge at the base of the costal (i.e. lower) edge of the wing, but this is found in other species too.
My second image shows a male Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus). The only thing that gave me pause about this one is that most specimens of this species have sharply incurved pronotal side keels, as you can see here and here. But the other identification features are clear: he’s noticeably hairy, especially on the underside of the abdomen, and he has long, functional wings with a tiny costal bulge. The Field Grasshopper has a very wide range of colours and markings, and in this area those Tequila Sunrise colours on the abdomen are fairly common. Mottled or striped wings are also quite common, and in this male they’re especially nicely marked; according to Wikipedia, patterned forewings often go with black body colour, whereas green individuals usually have plain wings.
R: C4, D11.
