Mainly distributed in the south of Britain, the Great Green Bush-cricket is the largest of our native bush-crickets, at 40 to 55 mm in length. It is also the loudest, and the rattling call of the males can be heard in the evenings and often into the night from the end of July until October.

The Great Green Bush-cricket’s preferred habitat is brambly scrubland, bracken and hedges, where it can be hard to see, with its camouflage colouring of leafy green. Note also the rusty-brown band running along its top, and the very long antennae, which can be up to three times as long as the cricket’s body.

The female has a long ovipositor (the photograph on this page is of a female), and lays her eggs on the ground: these then hatch as nymphs in May to June of the following year. The adults eat caterpillars and other larvae, as well as flies and other small insects.