Bug FAQDark Bush-cricket
Pholidoptera griseoaptera · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Tettigoniidae
The dark bush-cricket is a small insect, males 11 to 21 mm long and females 15 to 20 mm long, with short brown wings about 5 mm in males and almost wingless females. It lives on forest edges, clearings, parks and gardens from sea level up to about 2100 m, avoiding sandy soils. Adults eat both small insects such as aphids and caterpillars and plant material like bramble, dandelion and nettles.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Females have a sickle-shaped ovipositor 8 to 10 mm long, while males have two short cerci. Female fore-wings are tiny, half-round and grey-brown, only 1 to 2 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Males measure 11 to 21 mm, females 15 to 20 mm in body length. Male wing length is about 5 mm, roughly the length of the pronotum.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found mainly on forest edges, clearings, wasteland, parks and gardens, from 0 to 2100 m altitude. Avoids sandy soils and is rare in sandy areas.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults are omnivorous, feeding on small insects like aphids and caterpillars as well as plants such as bramble, dandelion and nettles.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Development takes two years with seven larval stages.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Nymphs appear at the end of April in the third year and the first adults emerge in June.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range extends across Europe from northern Spain to Crimea, the Caucasus and the Near East.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is much smaller than the similar Pholidoptera aptera, which helps distinguish the two.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the dark bush-cricket eat?
It eats small insects such as aphids and caterpillars and also plants like bramble, dandelion and nettles.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I find a dark bush-cricket?
Look for them on forest edges, clearings, parks and gardens up to about 2100 m altitude, but not in sandy soils.
Source: Wikipedia
How big is a dark bush-cricket?
Males are 11 to 21 mm long and females 15 to 20 mm, with short brown wings about 5 mm in males.
Source: Wikipedia
When do they appear each year?
Nymphs show up at the end of April in the third year, and adults first appear in June.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Tettigoniidae)
Great Green Bush-cricketTettigonia viridissimaCan bite
Mediterranean KatydidPhaneroptera nanaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Fork-tailed Bush KatydidScudderia furcataDamages trees, gardens or crops
Speckled Bush-cricketLeptophyes punctatissima
Roesel's Bush-cricketRoeseliana roeselii
Greater AnglewingMicrocentrum rhombifoliumDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholidoptera_griseoaptera
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.