Silly question perhaps

[Tony F Dordogne]

What's the difference between a cricket and a grasshopper, other than the cricket wearing a top hat and singing in films?

We have them in abumdance and can't work out the difference or even if there is one.

[Will]

THE POETRY of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper’s—he takes the lead
In summer luxury,—he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening, when the frost
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,
The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.

 

Doesn't answer the question, I know, but I like the poem (by John Keats)

[Will]

Looking into things a bit deeper (I was wondering too), this might help: http://vt.essortment.com/cricketsgrassho_rctk.htm

[chris pp]

I'll try and explain, and hopefully make it easy.

Grasshoppers (which are called Criquets in French) have short antennae.

Bush crickets, which look a bit like big grasshoppers (and are called Sauterelles in French) have long antennae.

Crickets, of which there are various types (which are called Grillons in French) generally are brown with rounded heads and long antennae and have a much more squat body.

That's a bit of an over simplification, I'll put something on my web site later this week.

Chris

[Cassis]

Are the bush crickets the ones that are a couple of inches or more long?  Big, fat, pulsing, pale green bodies?

[chris pp]

Not always, click on it, it may work.

I just did a quick "images" search and found pictures of grasshoppers being called sauterelles, so there is a lot of confusion in the world.

Chris

[Cassis]

Colour's a bit bright, but otherwise that looks very like the boys we've been seeing round here this year.  I didn't notice them last year - but neither did we seem to have as many of the wee brown boys, who are in huge numbers this year.  Or maybe I'm just noticing them more.

[Jonzjob]

Hi Chris, I think that it must have been a bush cricket that I found in our summer kitchen a couple of daze back. About 2 inches long. He had a lot of what looked like spiders web wrapped round his back legs and was looking very sorry for himself. I put him on a wall in the sun and got him a couple of dandylion leaves. He munched his way through both of them and I poured a drop of water on the wall in front of him which he drank, followed by some more. It was fascinating to watch. The stupid little sod then jumped straight into the pool and I had to rescue it with a net.

[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f180/Jonzjob/DSC06244.jpg[/IMG]

Chris, is it possible that it was attacked by a spider and was the next on the menu? If so what spider, down here, could attack something that big. I mean, I don't mind spiders, but one that size I want to know about!!!

[Jonzjob]

[quote user="Cassis"]Colour's a bit bright, but otherwise that looks very like the boys we've been seeing round here this year.  I didn't notice them last year - but neither did we seem to have as many of the wee brown boys, who are in huge numbers this year.  Or maybe I'm just noticing them more.
[/quote]

Perhapse the ice in the G&T is magnifying them Cas???[6]

[Jonzjob]

I just had a thought Chris, what do you recon this is. It was seen at Westonbirt Arboretum last month. I recon that bloke stood there had better be careful?

[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f180/Jonzjob/Westonbirtmantis.jpg[/IMG]

Quite something isn't it?

Sorry if it's off topic. Also sorry it's so big but I couldn't find the way to reduce it and the 'wonderful forum dodas' told me the delete time was up after all of about 10 secondz. Bruddie stipid!

[chris pp]

Nice picture, John ( I've nicked it).

That's definitely a bush cricket, Platycleis "something", I think.

So, now we've done some bush crickets, how about some other crickets?

Just seen your huge Mantis, so to speak.

Chris