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On the morning of 2/8/04 I was birding with Verity Picken at
Goldcliff Lagoons. I could hear Short-winged Coneheads (Conocephalus
dorsalis) singing from vegetation along side the Mireland Pill reen
but none were easily visible.
However as we walked around the track towards the Sea wall I heard a
Conehead singing from an isolated tuft of Juncus very close to the
footpath. I soon located the insect and was amazed to see that it
had long wings! I then became aware that the song seemed to lack the
characteristic alteration in tone and speed of C.dorsalis. Was this
Gwent’s 1st Conocephalus discolor? (My hearing is quite acute and
this has enabled me able to familiarise myself with the songs of the
commonly occurring Gwent Orthoptera)
Aware of the possibility of the macropterous (i.e. long winged form)
of C.dorsalis I listened intently for the next minute or so, half
expecting and fearing that the song would suddenly start alternating
in tone, shattering my hopes of a County first. To my great relief
the fast and prolonged ticking sound remained constant and the
identification was confirmed!
Despite not having a net, we managed, after a bit of a struggle to
get the insect into a pot. Impressively Verity initially caught it
with her bare hands! I took it home for further examination and the
possibility that a specimen may be required to validate the record.
I informed Steve Williams, the Orthoptera County recorder that
evening.
In size, structure and colour it was very similar to C. dorsalis but
the wings, which were c15 mm in length clearly extended beyond the
tip of the abdomen by several mm. The total body length was c19mm.
As a voucher specimen wasn’t required, the following day I took it
back to the site and re-united it with the same Juncus plant! Almost
immediately it began singing, apparently none the worse for being
refrigerated and having been to the GWT office in Monmouth where it
was photographed!
Encouragingly, on the same day I found 2 more males in a Juncus tuft
about 5m from the original find. The Juncus was situated in a dried
up ditch c1m across and about 25cm deep on the edge of a field
adjacent to the southern-most saline lagoon.
On 10th August I returned and found 6 individuals including the
first female for the site near to a singing male. The female showed
the virtually straight ovipositor characteristic of this species.
Both insects were on thistles on the grassy bank that borders the
south side of the Lagoon.
Amazingly on 11th August while doing some survey work for the Gwent
Wildlife trust, I found a singing male in an area of lush grassland
on the Llantarnam industrial estate! The distance between this site
and Goldcliff would suggest that they are probably much more
widespread than suspected and it is only a matter of time before
more sites are located.
Map ref: ST297 935
Tetrad: ST 29W
Adrian Hickman
Photo by Gemma Bodé (GWT office, Monmouth)
Notes on the Long-winged Conehead from
the County Recorder
Along with Roesel’s Bush Cricket the Long-winged Conehead is one of the
successes of British Orthoptera. First discovered on mainland England in
1945 it has consistently extended its range at a rate of about 10km per
year. Now widespread throughout the southern counties it continues to expand
further west and north belaying it official status as a Nationally Scarce
‘A’ species. In 2001 long winged Conehead was noted in west Gloucestershire
and shortly afterwards the first Welsh record came from the outskirts of
Cardiff. So it was just a matter of time before the first Gwent record was
secured. Thanks to the fieldwork of Adrian Hickman the county can now boast
three sites (although two are very close together) providing a firm platform
for further expansion.
For those interested in looking for the Long-winged Conehead you will need
to target those Juncus dominated semi-improved fields. But don’t discount
other habitats as in England drier rough grassland habitats are preferred,
and it’s also turning up in isolated patches of long grass. Care should
taken with its identification as the Long winged Conehead will share the
same habitat as its close relative the Short-winged Conehead that is
widespread in lowland Gwent.
Both Short and Long-winged Coneheads are easily located using a bat detector
but you will need to know the subtle differences in songs. Should you
suspect Long-winged Conehead always search for the insect to confirm record.
If you are interested becoming more familiar with the songs of British
Orthoptera they can be downloaded from the website of the Environmental
Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly at www.erccis.co.uk/species/grasshoppercalls
Finally don’t forget all records of grasshoppers and crickets in Gwent are
needed to help with a project to prepare a provisional atlas for the vice
county. Please send any records, however common, to
Steve Williams: 8, Snatchwood Terrace, Abersychan, Pontypool, Torfaen NP4
7BP or email to grasshoppersvc35@aol.com
Steve Williams
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