Meconema meridionale (Costa, 1860)

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Status: British Isles non-native species.

Description: Small, pale green with a yellowish stripe along the back. The female has a long, slightly upturned ovipositor, the male has long curved cerci. Unlike the Oak Bush Cricket, this species only has very short wings (though beware of Oak Bush Cricket nymphs, which also have short wings).

Size: 11-17 mm

Wings: Very short-winged (flightless).

Stridulation: Does not stridulate but drums one hind leg on a leaf, in short fast bursts.

Food: Predator, feeds on small insects.

Habitat: Arboreal – broadleaved woodland and gardens.

Phenology: Late - adults present from the middle of August until autumn.

Distribution: This species is not present in the National Biodiversity Network Database currently (October 2008).