Southern Oak Bush Cricket | Hainault Forest

Southern Oak Bush Cricket

Meconema meridionale

TQ4792 14/08/2024 ©Raymond Small

The Southern Oak Bush-cricket is a common species (14-17mm long) found in oak woodland. It is pale green with a pale-yellow dorsal stripe and two reddish-brown spots on top of the pro-thorax, first recorded in Britain in 2001. It is a predator of the Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner moth first recorded in the country a year after. The female has a long, slightly upturned ovipositor. The tiny wing flaps have become functionless in the course of evolution meaning this species cannot fly.

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