Meconema

From the Buglife source: Meconema species are small, pale green bush-crickets with long antennae. Meconema thalassinum has a pale cream or yellow dorsal stripe. Adults of both sexes are fully winged. From the genome paper: It is the only native arboreal Orthopteran species in the UK. Males can be distinguished by their unique drumming behavior rather than wing stridulation. Meconema meridionale (southern oak bush-cricket) is a more recent colonist expanding its range in the UK, historically restricted to southern regions.

Primarily associated with mature trees, particularly oaks (Quercus species). In the UK, Meconema thalassinum is arboreal, living in the canopy of mature trees of various species. The southern oak bush-cricket (Meconema meridionale) has been observed in similar habitats and is expanding into new areas including higher altitude sites.

Native to Europe. Meconema thalassinum is widespread and common across southern and central England and south Wales in the UK, and has become established in North America over approximately the last 75 years. Meconema meridionale is expanding its range northward and westward in the UK from previous strongholds in the Thames and Humber estuaries, now reaching Derbyshire and the North York Moors. The genus has also been recorded in Albania, Austria, the Baltic States, Bulgaria, and Connecticut (USA).

Adults present from late July through autumn.

Carnivorous. Meconema thalassinum feeds on a range of invertebrates including Lepidopteran larvae.

• Lepidoptera - preylarvae as prey
• Quercus - associatedoaks, primary tree association
• mature trees - associatedvarious species

Eggs are laid in crevices in bark. From the genome paper: Adults are present from late July to the autumn.

Nocturnal. Males attract females by drumming their hind limbs on leaves, an unusual auditory method for Tettigoniidae that does not involve typical wing stridulation. This produces some of the more complex sounds for the group. From the Bug Eric source: The drumming katydid, Meconema thalassinum, does not produce sound the way most other members of their clan do. Instead, they strike a blow against a branch, leaf, or twig to call to the opposite sex.

Predator of invertebrates including Lepidopteran larvae. Arboreal species contributing to ecosystem dynamics in oak and other mature tree canopies.

Meconema meridionale serves as a bioindicator of climate change, with its northward and westward range expansion in the UK documented as a response to warming temperatures. Both species are subjects of citizen science recording through the Grasshoppers and Related Insects Recording Scheme and the i-Record Grasshoppers app.

• XiphidiopsisJapanese species formerly assigned to Meconema (Meconema subpunctatum) has been reassigned to Xiphidiopsis (X. subpunctata)
• other TettigoniidaeMost bush-crickets produce sound by wing stridulation; Meconema is distinguished by drumming behavior using hind limbs on substrate

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Bug Eric: How Insects Sing
• What’s the difference between a cricket and a grasshopper? - Buglife Blog - Buglife
• The Changing Distributions of our Grasshoppers, Crickets and Relatives - Buglife Blog - Buglife
• The genome sequence of the oak bush-cricket, Meconema thalassinum (De Geer, 1773).
• Comparative Mitogenomics and Phylogenetic Implications for Nine Species of the Subfamily Meconematinae (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae).