Heather cricket

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Heather cricket
Male of the heather shrimp (Gampsocleis glabra)

Male of the heather shrimp ( Gampsocleis glabra )

Systematics
Subordination : Long- probe horror (Ensifera)
Superfamily : Tree locusts (Tettigonioidea)
Family : Tettigoniidae
Subfamily : Tettigoniinae
Genre : Gampsocleis
Type : Heather cricket
Scientific name
Gampsocleis glabra
( Autumn , 1786)

The heather insect ( Gampsocleis glabra ) is a long- antenna insect . It was also described under the names Decticus alberti , Gampsocleis annae , Gampsocleis podolica , Locusta glabra and Locusta prima .

features

The heather shrimp is similar in body to the wart-biter . It has a medium-long, thick abdomen and wings that slightly protrude above the abdomen. The antennae are about as long as the body, the legs have small spines on the lower leg. The mandibles are very strong. The heather insect is mainly olive green or light green in color, but has brown spots and stripes. The thighs of the rear pair of legs have two parallel dark lines. The front half of the thigh is dotted. A broad dark brown or dark green band runs from the base of the antenna to the end of the thorax . The thorax has a light yellow stripe on the edges of its lateral lobes. The abdomen is brown to olive green and striped green, the belly is dull green-yellow. The wings are veined black and spotted brown. The sexes are the same in color. The cerci of the male are triangular, the ovipositor of the female is slightly curved downwards and colored dark brown. Both sexes are between 20 and 26 millimeters long.

Stridulation organ

The arrow points to the active shrill bar, which is located on the left fore wing and is part of the shrill loader. On the other hand, the mirror on the right front wing is superbly designed.

The fore wings of the males are on average 21.59 mm long, in the females 23.48 mm long and completely cover the shorter hind wings. The subdivision of the forewings into a dorsal and a lateral field is easy to recognize in both males and females, as a strong, sloping vein extending from the wing bases indicates the division. The lateral fields are large and enable the heather terrors to fly. The dorsal fields are small and triangular in shape (picture). That of the left wing lies above that of the right wing in both males and females. In the case of the males, the dorsal fields contain the structures that serve to form the song, in the case of the females there are no structures whatsoever that could serve to produce sound.

In the adult males, the shrill veins and the shrill ridges with shrill teeth are well developed on the dorsal area of ​​the left wing (picture). The shrill vein has an average length of 4.13 mm, the shrill ridge of 2.84 mm and has an average of 95.25 shrill teeth (extreme values: 82–115 shrill teeth, determined in 21 males from the Garching Heath). The mirror has receded on the left wing, only the frame can still be seen.

In contrast, the mirror on the dorsal field of the right wing is designed in a characteristic way. The central membrane is thin, transparent and clamped in a strong, pigmented frame (picture). The shrill charger is still there, although it has receded. It is on average only 3.24 mm long, the shrill ridge measures only 1.93 mm and has an average of only 65.05 shrill teeth (extreme values: 54–75 shrill teeth, determined in four females from the Garching Heath).

Way of life and distribution

The heather insect feeds on grasses, heather and other plants. She loves warmth and is only active in the sun. She sings loudly whirring.

The heather shrimp lives in dry regions such as steppes , on poor grass and - as the name suggests - in heather landscapes with high grass cover. In Germany it is considered critically endangered. After it was declared extinct in the 20th century in the Lüneburg Heath , on the Griesheimer Sand near Darmstadt , the Königsbrunner Heide near Augsburg and the Garching Heath near Munich, it was rediscovered in two places near Munster in the Lüneburg Heath. Both sites are on military security grounds, which probably contributed to the preservation of the species in Germany. In the meantime it has also become known from the Klietzer Heide in Saxony-Anhalt, which is also used for military purposes.

Outside of Germany, they can be found in the region between the Caspian and Black Seas .

The adults appear from early July to September.

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Anna Alfonsa Stark: Investigations on the sound organ of some crickets and grasshopper species, at the same time a contribution to the right-left problem. Zoological Yearbooks, Department of Anatomy and Ontogeny of Animals 77, pp. 9–50, 1958.
  2. ^ Wallaschek, M. Langner, TJ, Richter, K. (2004) Die Geradflügler of the State of Saxony-Anhalt. Reports from the State Office for Environmental Protection Saxony-Anhalt 5

literature

  • Anna Alfonsa Stark: Investigations on the sound organ of some crickets and grasshopper species, at the same time a contribution to the right-left problem. Zoological Yearbooks, Department of Anatomy and Ontogeny of Animals 77, pp. 9–50, 1958.
  • Heiko Bellmann: The Cosmos Locust Leader. Determine the species of Central Europe with certainty. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3440104478

Web links