Platycleis grisea | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Orthoptera |
Suborder: | Ensifera |
Family: | Tettigoniidae |
Subfamily: | Tettigoniinae |
Tribe: | Platycleidini |
Genus: | Platycleis |
Species: | P. grisea |
Binomial name | |
Platycleis grisea (Fabricius, 1781) | |
Synonyms | |
Locusta grisea Fabricius Contents |
Platycleis grisea [1] is a European species of bush crickets described by Fabricius in 1781. It is the type species of the genus Platycleis and therefore the tribe Platycleidini. This species is recorded from mainland Europe (not the British Isles or Scandinavia) and northern Africa. [2]
P. grisea has body length of 15-24 mm and are usually quite uniformly coloured grey to light brown and marbled in a darker brown, with a lighter underside. The fore-wings are usually whitish and spotted. The side lobes of the pronotum are often patterned in a coarser brown and lined with a narrow, light colour and a central keel is apparent in the front half. The pronotum is rarely green or ivory-coloured on the upper side, but is often reddish. Like all representatives of the genus Platycleis , the species is almost always long-winged, the wings clearly protrude not only over the tip of the abdomen but also the rear knees when at rest. The species is able to fly well and populations are able to disperse easily. In females, the dark-coloured ovipositor is relatively short and evenly curved upwards. The cerci in the male are serrated on the inside beyond the distal half. [3] [4]
This species is very similar to P. albopunctata , which is practically identical in body shape and colour, and hybrids may also occur in the southern Alps. They can only be definitively distinguished by the genitalia. [3] The song is also very similar, consisting of soft, four- to six-syllable chirping that continue for several minutes, which can only be heard from within a few metres.
As with the similar species, P. grisea prefers living in warm, dry grasslands and other habitats, often with patchy vegetation. It also occurs in semi-urban habitats such as railway and road embankments, and quarries. Sexually mature adults can be found from June to October. [4]
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Eurycnema goliath, commonly known as the goliath stick insect, or the regal stick insect, is a large species of stick insect in the family Phasmatidae, endemic to Australia and considered one of the largest species of stick insects in the country. The species has the Phasmid Study Group number PSG14.
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Platycleis is a genus of bush crickets described by Fieber in 1853, belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae. The species of this genus are present in Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia.
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Conocephalus fuscus, the long-winged conehead, is a member of the family Tettigoniidae, the bush-crickets and is distributed through much of Europe and temperate Asia. This bush-cricket is native to the British Isles where it may confused with the short-winged conehead. These two species are phenotypically similar; however, the distinguishing factor between the two is the fully developed set of wings the long-winged conehead possesses that allows for flight. In the short-winged coneheads the hind wings are shorter than the abdomen, causing the wings to be vestigial and the species is incapable of flight. For this reason it is hard to discriminate between the two species during the early stages of their life cycle before the wings have fully developed. The colouration of the conehead is typically a grass green with a distinctive brown stripe down its back, though there are some brown phenotypes.
Pholidoptera griseoaptera, the dark bush-cricket, is a flightless species of European bush-cricket; it is the type species of its genus with no subspecies.
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Antaxius pedestris is a species of "bush crickets" belonging to the family Tettigoniidae. It was originally described by Johan Christian Fabricius under the scientific name of Locusta pedestris.
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Cyphoderris strepitans, the sagebrush cricket or sagebrush grig, is a one of only a few surviving species in the family Prophalangopsidae. Three of these species are in the genus Cyphoderris and all three are endemic to North America. C. strepitans name is from the Latin word 'strepitans' which means 'making a great noise', refers to their calling song during the mating season.
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