These insects are all in the order Orthoptera and are well represented on the Lowes. The obvious difference between bush crickets and grasshoppers is the length of the antennae. Grasshoppers short and bush crickets long as in the image below. There is no caterpillar stage the eggs (laid below ground) hatch into nymphs which develop more adult features at every moult
Bog Bush Cricket
This is a rare species in Norfolk and Holt Lowes is one of the few sites where it lives. It likes (as its name suggests) wet acidic conditions. It is found in the mixed valley mire. This is a female because of the long ovipositor at the end of the abdomen.
Dark Bush Cricket
This species is fairly common in Norfolk. The wings are vestigial and uniform grey/brown colour is distinctive apart from yellow undersides.
Males call with a distinctive brisk chirp. They call all day but the sound is easily lost, but it is much clearer at dusk.
Oak Bush Cricket
This is a very obvious Bush Cricket to identify. It doesn’t stridulate in the orthopteran sense. It makes an almost inaudible drumming sound by hitting leaves with it’s hind legs. It is fully winged and lives entirely in the trees. Probably the best places to look for it on the Lowes are in the scrubby woodland adjoining Ollie’s Fenand Soldiers Pond. they are predators
Speckled Bush Cricket
This species is quite common in Norfolk and is found on the Lowes. It is pretty distictive and lives up to its name being covered in small dark spots. They are wingless. Earlier in the year the newly hatched nymphs can be found in brambles or other scrubby vegetation, but they become less easy to find as they get older,
Roesel’s Bush Cricket
This interesting bush cricket is moving Northwards! It occurs with wings or without them and probably it is the former type that is responsible for the move. It has become much more common over the last 40 years and occurs on the Lowes aroundthe fringes of Ollie’s Fen and no doubt elewhere.
Its song apparently is like the buzz you might hear near electric pylons and can be loud, but this aged author has never been able to hear what was apparently a very loud one!
Grasshoppers
The Lowes has 4 species of Grasshopper and none are rare. However they are well distributed on the site and form an important food source for birds and predatory insects
Common Green Grasshopper
This species is widespread and common . It is probably the first grasshopper to be active in the spring. Very distinctively green on the back butthe sides are banded black and cream and the base of the front and base of the head are brown. The stucture which covers the thorax – the prontotum is very slightly indentedin the middleand has a yellow stripe each side running from the eyes to the back of the pronotum
Common Field Grasshopper
This is probably the most common species in Norfolk. It’s song is a series of brisk chirps which I can hear! It likes dry conditions and sheltered sunny spots, so short grass is favoured too. There are a range of colours but the back is ysually brownand the abdomen can be multicolored with reds and creams.
Two distinctive features are the distinctly indented pronotum on each side, with the stripes being only on the rear half. The other feature – less easy to spot is the slight bulge on the front edge of the forewing as shown in middle of the lower image
Meadow Grasshopper
This species is a bit smaller than the previous one and normally very green on the back. The pronutum is hardly indented as is shown in the lower picture anther are no distinct lines like in the two previous species. males have long wings and females short ones so the one below is a female.
The species occurs in a wide range of grassland and can be found in the grassy area of the Lowes, especially with longer grass. The easiest way to find it is to listen for the song about 15 or so buzz’s in a couple of seconds. The traditional grasshopper sound!
Mottled Grasshopper
This is a good name for this variously coloured small grasshopper. The mottling is also good camouflage. In Norfolk this is a species of sandy heathland and the dry heath is the place to look for it on the Lowes.
The distinctive feature is the antennae which are swollen at the tips.
Common Groundhopper
Groundhoppers belong to to a different family in the Orthoptera, but. There are three British species and this one is the commonest. It is equally happy in wet or dry conditions- so you can find it all over the Lowes! It is a bulky insect with a marked ridge at the top of the thorax