''Sepiana sepium'', common name sepia bush-cricket, is a species of bush crickets belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae and tribe

Platycleidini 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 cricke ...

. It is the only species within the monotypic genus ''Sepiana''.Orthoptera Species File
/ref>

Distribution

This widespread species is present from southwestern to southeastern

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 ...

and in the

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 ...

. It can be found from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, southern

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and the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

along the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and to south-west

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Habitat

These bush crickets usually live in not too xerothermic areas on the edge of the forests and in bushland, but also on grassy meadows.

Description

''Sepiana sepium'' can reach a length of . The ovopositor reaches . These bush crickets have very long enlarged hind legs, with small spines on the lower legs. The ground colour of the body ranges from gray-brown to reddish. The sides of the pronotum are almost triangular-shaped, usually black or dark brown, and they are clearly delineated by a bright longitudinal line. The head is usually reddish coloured. Above the eyes there is a dark patch, which is crossed by a whitish line. The legs are dark brown or dark gray. On the hind legs there is a dark brown stripe. The cerci of the males are flattened. In the females the 6th and 7th abdominal segments have a pair of cusps. This species is quite similar to ''

Metrioptera roeselii Roesel's bush-cricket, ''Roeseliana roeselii'' (synonym ''Metrioptera roeselii'') is a European bush-cricket, named after August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, a German entomologist. Morphology Adult insects Adult Roesel's bush-crickets are medium ...

''.Linnea
/ref> The bush crickets of this species, similarly to the species within the genus ''

Platycleis ''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. Biology Studies conducted in 2010 at the Univer ...

'', have the largest

testicle A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testostero ...

s in proportion to body mass of any animal recorded.Biggest testicles record set by bushcricket
/ref>

Biology

Adults appear from July to September. Their vocals consist of highly scratching sounds, which are performed at a very short distance from one another.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q14331201, from2=Q166553 Tettigoniinae Orthoptera of Europe Ensifera genera Monotypic Orthoptera genera Taxa described in 1941