Speckled Bush-Cricket

Leptophyes punctatissima

Speckled Bush-Cricket

The Speckled Bush-Cricket (Leptophyes puntatissima) is a flightless species of bush cricket common in well vegetated areas of England and Wales, such as woodland margins, hedgerows and gardens.  The eggs are laid in late summer into the bark or plant stems where they remain over the winter.  The nymphs will emerge in May and June and mature as adult Speckled Bush Crickets by mid August. I often find them perched in bushes (such as the laurel bush outside my front garden) and sometimes in porches and on window ledges.  They are most active at dusk and at night.  Females can be identified by their sabre-like ovipositor.