WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Widespread and locally common in the Southern half of the UK. Habitat includes: wet, sparsely-vegetated areas such as damp grassland, wetlands, streams, riverbanks, mudflats, woodland clearings, soft-rock cliffs, wasteland etc. Length: 9 - 15 mm. Life story: New adults appear in August but overwinter and reappear in the following spring. Eggs are laid (into the ground or low vegetation) from August, overwinter and hatch in late spring (May) and grow into late instar nymphs or immature adults from June to July. Other names include: Slender Grasshopper, Awl-shaped Pygmy Grasshopper, Slender Grouse Locust. Diet: algae, mosses, lichens.