ROESEL'S BUSH CRICKET
This cricket is also called Roesel’s katydid and was named after a German entomologist. They are normally brown or yellow, often with a greenish shade, and vary in size from 13mm to 26mm. The females have a long sword-like ovipositor (egg laying tube), at the end of their abdomen which the males lack. Both males and females have wings, but they are very reduced and cannot be used for flight. Saying that, if the population numbers get too high for the food available, they have been known to grow usable wings to find a more sustainable environment.
Roesel’s bush-cricket produces 1 generation a year in the Summer or Autumn. The female uses her ovipositor like a letter opener, to slice open plant stems, usually grasses, and lays her eggs inside. These crickets prefer ungrazed meadows and old olive groves with tall grass. They eat the grass, as well as grass seeds and smaller insects.
