Conocephalus discolor
| Conocephalus discolor | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Family: | Tettigoniidae |
| Genus: | Conocephalus |
| Species: | C. discolor |
| Binomial name | |
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Conocephalus discolor (Thunberg, 1815) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Conocephalus discolor, the long-winged conehead, is a member of the family Tettigoniidae. This bush-cricket is native to the British Isles. This species can be easily confused with the short-winged conehead (Conocephalus dorsalis), a close relative. These two species are phenotypically similar; however, the distinguishing factor between the two is the fully developed set of wings the long-winged conehead possesses that allows for flight. In the short-winged coneheads the hind wings are shorter than the abdomen, causing the wings to be vestigial and the species is incapable of flight. For this reason it is hard to discriminate between the two species during the early stages of their life cycle before the wings have fully developed. The colouration of the conehead is typically a grass green, though there are some brown phenotypes, with a distinctive brown stripe down its back.
Some authorities hold that this species should be referred to Conocephalus fuscus (Fabricius, 1793). The debate hinges on whether the specific epithet used by Fabricius in the combination Locusta fusca should be regarded as preoccupied by the naming of a species by Pallas in 1773 as "GRYLLUS Locusta fuscus" (this species is now known as Arcyptera fusca). There does not appear to be agreement on this and there are abundant references to both C. fuscus and C. discolor in literature.
The body of bush-crickets is covered by a protective exoskeleton and is divided into three parts: the head, thorax, and abdomen. The topmost segment of the thorax, the pronotum, is shaped like a saddle and is primarily used for protection. Bush-crickets are also equipped with large hind legs for jumping and biting mouth parts for grip and protection. The phenotypic aspects that are characteristic to this family of insects are the antennae, which typically exceed the length of their body, and the straight sword shaped ovipositor that the females use for laying eggs.
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Wikipedia