Gomphocerippus rufus (Linnaeus, 1758)

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Status: British Isles native species.

Description: Broad bodied, brown grasshopper with clubbed, pale or white-tipped antennae. Mature males have orange tip to abdomen. Incurved pronotal side-keels. Some females are reddish-purple.

Size: 14-22 mm

Wings: Fully winged.

Stridulation: Soft but urgent buzzing which fluctuates slightly, dying away at the end.

Food: Herbivorous.

Habitat: Rough dry grassland on calcareous soils. Typically on south facing slopes and in sheltered valleys where scrub is present or at the margin of woods.

Phenology: Nymphs hatch in late May. Adults appear by late July and can survive into December.

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.