Field grasshopper - Chorthippus brunneus - Family: Acrididae

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Field grasshopper - Chorthippus brunneus
© Roger Key/English Nature

The field grasshopper is typically a variable mixture of shades of brown and cream, and the mature male becomes reddish orange at the tip of the abdomen. It is one of our commonest and most often seen grasshoppers, favouring short vegetation and is probably the commonest species in gardens throughout England.

Adults are around from June until late autumn, depending on the time of the first frosts. Eggs are laid in the soil in late summer, hatching in the spring to produce miniature, wingless grasshoppers. The song is a brief single chirp, repeated at short intervals.

Food

Plant-feeder on a variety species of grass.

Predators

Bees and wasps, Common frog, Common lizard, Grass snake, Spiders and harvestmen, Wood mouse