Head to head
Field Cricket vs Roesel's Bush-cricket
Field Cricket
VS Roesel's Bush-cricket
The field cricket and Roesel's bush-cricket are two grassland singers of Europe, one a threatened rarity in Britain and the other an expanding newcomer.
| Field Cricket | Roesel's Bush-cricket | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Gryllus campestris | Metrioptera roeselii |
| Group | A true cricket, stout and shiny | A bush-cricket, brown to olive |
| Appearance | A stout, shiny black cricket, about 20 to 25 mm long, with a large round head and a yellowish patch at the base of the wings | A brown to olive bush-cricket, about 13 to 26 mm long, with a cream to yellow-green rim around its saddle-shaped pronotum |
| Song | The male sings a loud, clear, repeated chirp from the entrance of his burrow, and falls silent when disturbed | The male sings a long, continuous, high-pitched buzz, like a distant electric wire or a rattle, from grass stems |
| Home | Digs its own burrow in short, warm, well-drained turf | Lives in rough, tall grassland, roadside verges, and damp meadows, often where the grass is left uncut |
| Dispersal | Rarely moves far from its burrow | A small proportion are long-winged and can fly, helping the species colonise new places |
| Life cycle | Nymphs overwinter in their burrows and adults appear in May and June, living for a few weeks | Eggs are laid in plant stems and overwinter, hatching in spring |
| Conservation status | Least Concern in Europe, but critically rare in Britain, with captive breeding and reintroductions | Least Concern, and increasing as it spreads across southern and eastern Britain |
Field Cricket vs Roesel's Bush-cricket: common questions
Which one lives in a burrow?
The field cricket, which digs its own burrow in short, warm turf and sings from the entrance.
Which one is spreading in Britain?
Roesel's bush-cricket, which has expanded across southern and eastern Britain since the 1990s, aided by warmer summers and by long-winged individuals.
How do their songs differ?
The field cricket sings loud, clear, repeated chirps, whereas Roesel's bush-cricket sings a long, continuous, high-pitched buzz.