Tettigonia cantans

Zwitscherschrecke ( Tettigonia cantans ) ♂

The Zwitscherschrecke or Zwitscherheupferd ( Tettigonia cantans ) is one of the largest occurring in Central Europe locusts after the Green Grasshopper. The males gain a length of up to 30 mm, female animals are even up to 35 mm long. The species is predominantly colored green and the back has an elongated brown drawing. The ovipositor of the female projecting well above the top of the wing also. Adult animals of Tettigonia cantans occur from mid-July to October.

Habitat

The Zwitscherschrecke is moisture -loving, but also occurs on dry grasslands. It is the habitat forth quite unassuming and lives as the sister species to cultivated areas such as gardens and cornfields, in Hochstaudenfluren (preferably with bushes ) and on sunny roadsides. She likes to sing in 2-5 m height.

Dissemination

In the North German Plain, the Zwitscherschrecke is quite common to the coasts of North and Baltic Sea, from the low mountains to the south it is, however, clearly montane and is almost never below 300 meters of altitude before, in the Alps, it is usually only from 500-600 encountered meters above sea level.

Behavior

The Zwitscherschrecke, unlike the sister species hardly fly. She sings from noon till late into the night. The loud singing ( audibility over 50 m ) consists of verses which some pause (two to many) seconds and increase slightly in pitch. The individual syllables follow each other more rapidly than in the sister species, thus resulting in a more rubbing - whirring noise. Most some verses with pauses of several seconds are sung. Towards evening, the song change to a sustained tone. However, in the lowlands of the Elbe marshes (1-2 m above sea level) are, for example, both species in the same habitat before, Tettigonia viridissima much more frequently (approximately 5 - to 10 -fold). The Zwitscherschrecke feeds mainly on insects, but also of plant food. She is very aggressive and eats other insects, even the much larger green grasshopper. The female lays the eggs in moist soil, whether open or overgrown.

Stridulationsorgan

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