Common field grasshopper  (Chorthippus brunneus)

Common (1).

This is probably the most frequently seen grasshopper; it is fairly large and occurs in a very wide range of colours including green, brown and purple, usually with a variable amount of black, brown or grey mottling (3). The tough forewings, which protect the delicate membranous hind wings, are long, and in common with all Chorthippus species, have a bulge near their base. Most individuals have an orange tinge at the tip of the abdomen (3). This species can be identified by the low number of 'stridulatory' pegs on the legs used to produce the very characteristic song (4).

Common throughout Britain (1), and found throughout Europe including the Iberian Peninsula. It is more common in the north of its range (4).

Occurs in a range of dry, grassy habitats (1). It is often common in dry parkland, roadsides and waste ground (3).

This grasshopper is a strong flier, and is active in warm weather (3); on warm days it can frequently be seen sunning itself on walls, bare ground and paths (1). The song consists of chirps lasting half a second long. Males often chirp at each other in turn; these 'rivalry' songs are very characteristic of the species (4) (5). During courtship they produce a 'ticking' sound when paired with a female (3). These sounds are produced by 'stridulation', in which the hindlegs are scraped against veins on the forewing (6).

During summer, females lay a large egg pod containing up to 15 eggs in dry ground just below the surface, or sometimes in anthills. The eggs, which are the overwintering stage (1), hatch in May and adults appear in June. Grasshoppers undergo a type of development known as 'incomplete metamorphosis' in which the larvae, known as 'nymphs', resemble wingless adults, and progress through a series of moults before reaching maturity (6). Adult common field grasshoppers are better able to survive cold weather than many other species of grasshopper, and they can occasionally survive until December (3).

This species is not threatened.

Not relevant.

To learn more about the conservation of invertebrates and to support important conservation work visit:

• Buglife:
  www.buglife.org.uk

Information authenticated by Professor Mike Ritchie of the University of St Andrews
http://biology.st-and.ac.uk, with the support of the British Ecological Society
http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org

• Incomplete metamorphosis: type of insect development (also known as hemimetabolous development) in which the adult form is reached via a series of moults. The larva (nymph) resembles a miniature wingless adult; the wings develop externally as the nymph grows.
• Larvae: stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.
• Stridulation: production of sound by rubbing a file across a membrane. In insects, often a file on a wing rubs against the surface of the other wing, or the file is on a leg which is scraped on the wing.

1. National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary (March, 2003)
   http://www.nbn.org.uk
2. Sterry, P. (1997) Collins Complete British Wildlife Photoguide.Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, London.
3. Mahon, A. (1988) Grasshoppers and Bush-crickets.Shire Publications Ltd, Aylesbury.
4. Ritchie, M. (2004) Pers. comm.
5. Ragge, D.R. and Reynolds, W.J. (1998) The Songs of the Grasshoppers and Crickets of Western Europe.Harley Books, Colchester.
6. Marshall, J.A. and Haes, E.C.M. (1988) Grasshoppers and Allied Insects of Great Britain and Ireland.Harley Books, Colchester.