Amateur
Entomologists'
Society

Capital Grasshopper

From Wild London, Summer 1999

The discovery of a species of grasshopper new to the London area helps to challenge the myth that brownfield sites have little ecological value. The stripe-winged grasshopper (Stenobothrus lineatus) is a chalk and heathland species with a particularly distinctive song (somewhat like a siren in that the pitch rises and falls). Recently found at both Camley Street Natural Park, one of the Wildlife Trust's flagship reserves and a former lorry park, and Adelaide Nature Reserve, a railway embankment in Camden, this grasshopper's presence is a reminder that the fauna from such places should not be regarded as only composed of common species.

Wild London is published by the London Wildlife Trust. For more information see the Website

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