Gryllus campestris (Linnaeus, 1758)

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Status: British Isles native species.

Description: Shiny black cricket with a large head. The forewings have a yellow base, the thighs are red on the underside.

Size: 17-23 mm

Wings: Forewings extend beyond the middle of the abdomen, hindwings are only vestigial.

Stridulation: Males have a loud song consisting of short chirps repeated several times a second, which is performed in front of their burrows and can be heard up to 100m.

Food: Mainly herbivorous, feeding on grasses.

Habitat: South facing short turf on sandy or chalk soils with patches of bare ground.

Phenology: Late instar nymphs and adults overwinter in distinctive burrows with horizontal entrances. Adults are present from April onwards, they mate and lay eggs from May to July and die by August.

Distribution: The records held by the National Biodiversity Network are shown in the map below.

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Only the following datasets are included:

• Biological Records Centre - Grasshopper and Cricket (Orthoptera) and related species records from Britain and Ireland to 2007

Other datasets on the gateway may hold additional information.