All that lives on the farm is not cute and cuddly! We are blessed with an abundance of wildlife here and we were lucky enough yesterday to see a dark bush cricket.

A common animal across the southern half of England, the noisy, irregular chirpings of the dark bush-cricket are a familiar feature of late summer. An animal of gardens, hedgerows and woodland edges, dark bush-crickets can often be seen in quite large numbers sunbathing on bramble patches. However, males are very aggressive, defending their territories against intruders. Females lay their eggs in late summer in rotting wood or bark crevices; they emerge 18 months later, so odd-year and even-year dark bush-crickets never meet.

The dark bush-cricket lives up to its name: it’s dark to red-brown, with a paler patch along the top of the thorax, and a yellow-green belly. The female has an up-curved ovipositor.

What I didn’t know is crickets have antenna longer than their bodies and grasshoppers have antenna shorter. Anyway, it might not have the initial appeal of an alpaca, but a stunning creature none the less!

Dark bush cricket