I still need to write a post on all the rockpooling we did in Dorset/Devon but for now I will have to satisfy myself with a quickie on orthopterans - grasshoppers and crickets. (Mainly inspired by the new iPhone app for iRecord. Check it out. They've done a great job with it.)
Saw a fair few over the fortnight and I think two were new for me. A bit difficult to tell as I only recently started keeping records of these.
First up a Meadow Grasshopper showing itself nicely on my son's t-shirt. These were everywhere. On the cliff tops and fields.
I went looking for Cepero's Ground-hopper but drew a blank and only managed to find Common Ground-hopper
Field Grasshopper were another commonly encountered species and this one was particularly easy to get close to.
And now for the two ticks. First one was Bog Bush-cricket. Not in a bog but in a field although to be fair it was next to some heath that probably had some damper areas. The second new one was Great Green Bush-cricket that managed to show itself by landing on my son before posing for photos.
The one dip of the trip was Scaly Cricket. I searched at Branscombe and Chesil Beach, to no avail although did bizarrely find a shed skin. I will return next year with pitfall traps......
