''Tettigonia cantans'' is a species of bush crickets (or katydids) belonging to the family
Tettigoniidae
Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...
subfamily
Tettigoniinae
The Tettigoniinae are a subfamily of bush crickets or katydids, which contains hundreds of species in about twelve tribes.
Distribution
The greatest diversity is in the Palaearctic region and many of the familiar European species of bush crick ...
.
Distribution
''Tettigonia cantans'' is present in most of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, in the eastern
Palearctic realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
, in
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
, and in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
. The distribution extends from the Pyrenees to China. In the Mediterranean region, ''Tettigonia cantans'' is restricted to the higher elevations of the mountains. It is absent from most parts of Western Europe (Great Britain, western France, most of Iberian Peninsula).
Habitat
''Tettigonia cantans'' inhabits moist to moderately dry and rather cool habitats such as fens, marshes, tall herb vegetation, mountain meadows, clearcuts and woodland edges. But it is observed even in potato fields and on mountainous nutrient-poor, dry limestone grasslands with higher growing vegetation.
Description
The adult males grow up to long, while females reach . The basic coloration of the body is usually green, with a brown stripe on the back. These grasshoppers hardly fly, their wings are shorter and wider than in the other ''
Tettigonia
''Tettigonia'' is the type genus of bush crickets belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae.Linnaeus, C. (1758). ''Systema Naturae per Regna tria naturae'' (10th ed.) 1: 429. The scientific name ''Tettigonia'' is onomatopoeic and derives from t ...
'' species, only slightly covering the end of the abdomen. The ovipositor of the female extends beyond the tip of the wings.
Biology
Adults can be found from mid June through October. The eggs overwinter in the soil, according to literature, at least twice. They mainly feed on other insects, but also on vegetable foods. They are active from noon until night and males are detectable by their characteristic and pleasant singing (hence the Latin name ''cantans''). The females lay eggs in moist soil. ''Tettigonia cantans'' is not endangered.
Nutrition
Especially carnal food (insects such as other locusts), and plants.
Gallery
File:Sauterelle verte comune1.jpg, ''Tettigonia cantans'', female
File:Tettigonia cantans m 10191.jpg, ''Tettigonia cantans'', male
File:Heupferd9212.JPG, ''Tettigonia cantans'', male nymph
File:Stridulating Green Bush-Crickets.ogv, Stridulation
External links
Orthoptera*http://www.pyrgus.de/Tettigonia_cantans_en.html
{{Taxonbar, from=Q245100
Tettigoniinae
Insects described in 1775
Articles containing video clips
Orthoptera of Europe
Taxa named by Johann Kaspar Füssli