Mottled Grasshopper (Myrmeleotettix maculatus)

The Mottled Grasshopper is the star species from this group on the Common.  It is a heathland specialist and Hartlebury Common is one of only a handful of sites where it is found in the county.

It is a small grasshopper that is very variable in colour and markings. It is usually mottled in appearance which makes for excellent camouflage. The pronotum is short and the side keels kick in very sharply. The male is easily identified as it has a club- shaped tip to its antennae (this can be seen on the header for the Grasshoppers and Bush-crickets section which shows a front on view of a male Mottled Grasshopper).  None of the Common’s other grasshoppers have this feature.  The female only (shown in the adjacent photo) has slightly thickened antennae tips.

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