Slender Groundhopper - Tetrix subulata

Length 9-14 mm. Small grasshopper-like insect with wide 'shoulders' and a narrow tapering abdomen hidden beneath an extended pronotum. Females have a broad pale-brown stripe along the top of their bodies. Fully winged, they are capable of flight and adults can swim.

Only likely to be confused with a nymph of the Common Groundhopper, before the pronotum fully grows.

Bare mud and short vegetation in damp, unshaded locations.

Late instar nymphs and immature adults overwinter and mature in spring. Nymphs appear from May to July; adults appear by August.

Herbivorous, feeding on algae, mosses and lichens. Eggs are laid directly into the ground or in low vegetation.

Fairly frequent in the Midlands and southern England.

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland.

A few records throughout Leics and Rutland, probably under-recorded.