First sighting of England’s biggest insect in Yorkshire

The colour of the Great Green Bush Cricket makes it extremely difficult to locate, even when aided by its distinctive song. Young nymphs spend most of their time in coarse grassland whilst older nymphs and adults are more arboreal and frequent clumps of scrub, brambles and shrubs. The males call through the afternoons and into night during warm weather from late July onwards with an unmistakeable prolonged shrill buzzing call that carries for about 100 metres or more in still conditions. This cricket is omnivorous with invertebrates making up the bulk of its diet, although grass and other vegetation is also eaten. The female lays her eggs in late summer directly into the ground. After over-wintering as an egg, the nymphs emerge from mid May onwards and are mature by late July.

Great Green Bush cricket spotted in Yorkshire

The 4.5 centimetre long insect was flying across the forest drive when it caught the eagle eye Tina Randall who initially thought it was a locust. When it landed on a shrub she snapped a picture and later compared the image with others on the internet, leading her to correctly guess its identity and tip-off the Forestry Commission.

Crickets are very rare in the north, preferring the warmer climate of southern England. But the warming trend linked to climate change could mean they are spreading their wings and could be soon making themselves heard in the region in the dead of night.

Vagrant or breeding population?
Brian Walker, Forestry Commission Wildlife Officer, said: "We need to find out whether this is an isolated insect that's way off course - a so-called vagrant - or whether it's putting down roots. We know that the picture is of a female, so that opens up some interesting possibilities of little crickets hopping around. We will be pinning back our ears from July onwards and doing twilight surveys to try and hear its distinctive call. It is early days but we could be about to write another chapter in the natural history of North Yorkshire's forests."

Bush crickets are strong flyers so if climatic and habitat conditions are favourable there is little to stop the creature colonising new areas. Experts at York University who confirmed the species' identity were said to be amazed at the discovery.

Speckled wood butterfly
Many other creatures have emerged in Dalby Forest in recent years, including the speckled wood butterfly, which is now fairly widespread in the 3,440 hectare (8,600 acre) beauty spot. Wood lark have also moved into Forestry Commission woods in the Vale of York.