Tettigonia viridissima (Linnaeus, 1758)

On a whim, I took a trip to the Isle of Wight the other day. In amongst Ryde's endless pier, missed buses and angry Weimeraners, I encountered this:

Photographed in October 2013 near Culver Down on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, UK, using an Olympus E-420 with a Zuiko 40-150mm lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

Although its colouring masks it very well in the scrubby vegetation it calls its home, this large katydid is rendered quite conspicuous by its song, one of the loudest noises I've heard from common British insects and performed without any inhibition with (quiet) observers mere inches away.

This, the largest of Britain's truly resident bush-crickets - exceeded in length by the more slender Large Conehead Ruspolia nitidula, a rare seasonal migrant - is the Great Green Bush-Cricket

Tettigonia viridissima

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Like many katydids or, if you prefer, bush-crickets, it is an omnivore, in stark contrast to the usually herbivorous (although not always strictly) omnivore. Fear not, it doesn't eat humans but, having fairly powerful mandibles, it can deliver a painful (but venomless) nip if handled. 

Anyhow, with precisely this much ado, onwards with the taxonomy:

This delightful creature belongs to:

 - Tettigoniini

- Tettigoniinae

- Tettigoniidae  

- Tettigonioidea  

- Ensifera             

See also Stictogryllacris punctata.

 - Orthoptera             

See also Heteropternis thoracica, Cyathosternum prehensile, Lobosceliana loboscelis and Humbe tenuicornis.

- Panorthoptera            

- Orthopterida                 

- Polyorthoptera                

- Anartioptera                      

- Polyneoptera                       

See also Sibylla.

- Neoptera                                 

See also Pephricus, Grypocoris stysi, Ranatra, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Hagenomyia tristis, Phyllobius pomaceus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Oedemera noobilis, Cheilomenes lunata, Melolontha melolontha, Neojulodis vittipennis, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasiini, Synagris proserpina, Vespula germanica, Astata tropicalis, Andrena nigroaenea, Panorpa germanica, Chloromyia formosa, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Diasemopsis meigenii, Metadon inermis,Dolichotachina caudata Megistocera filipes, Crambus pascuella, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Metisella willemi, Acada biseriata, Anthocharis cardamines and Sphinx ligustri.

 - Manopterygota                              

See also Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni, Enallagma cyathigerum and Lestinogomphus angustus.

- Pterygota                                          

- Dicondylia                                          

- Insecta                                                  

- Hexapoda                                               

- Arthropoda                                               

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Alopecosa barbipes, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Pardosa amentata.

 - Ecdysozoa                                                   

- Protostomia                                                   

- Nephrozoa                                                       

 See also Synchiropus splendidus, Rana temporaria, Chiromantis xerampelina, Hipposideros vittatus, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Zootoca vivipara, Lygodactylus capensis, Troglodytes troglodytes, Chalcophaps indica, Ardea goliath, Sterna hirundo, Burhinus vermiculatus and Tockus alboterminatus.

 - Bilateralia                                                                

- Eumetazoa                                                                 

- Animalia                                                                      

- Eukaryota                                                                      

     

And that's all, folks!

For the rather depauperate British grasshoppers, you could do worse than the Orthoptera Recording Scheme website, which admittedly isn't the most user-friendly resource out there, but is chock-full of information once you find your way around...