Map of the Week: Climate Change and Crickets
"When you get in trouble and you don't know right from wrong, give a little whistle". Jiminy Cricket
As if to prick our conscience about climate change, the humble cricket is providing powerful evidence of its impact. My Map of the Week features the spread of two species of cricket, moving north as temperatures become comfortable for them.
The Long-winged Conehead Cricket was confined to the south coast until the 1980s. Now it can be found north of Leicester.
Similarly, Roesel's Bush Cricket was restricted to a few English river estuaries but is now seen across the country and into the Potteries.
The is hoping to involve the public in monitoring the spread of the crickets. A similar scheme following the invasion of the Harlequin Ladybird has proved a great success.
"We now want to expand the system and we've chosen grasshoppers and crickets because they are charismatic and they are showing range expansion already", says Dr Helen Roy. "We want to use them in the same way the butterflies have been used to show expansion".
Crickets and grasshoppers are members of the order known as Orthoptera which include those insects with enlarged hind legs which accommodate muscles for jumping. Orthoptera can produce up to five songs during courtship: normal song, courtship song, assault song, copulation song and the rivals duet.
During the ice age they were forced to inhabit ice free locations in southern Europe and spread north as the ice retreated. As they expanded, different populations met forming hybrids which developed their own songs.
It is thought other domestic species of grasshopper and cricket may be declining as a result of changing climate and the research project should identify when a species is in trouble. The Common Grasshopper is among those giving cause for concern.
There is also anxiety about Britain's butterflies as a result of another very wet summer. Butterflies do not fly in the rain, making it impossible for them to reach the plants on whose nectar they feed. Heavy rain also means they are unable to breed.
Last year was appalling for many species and naturalists fear a second year of record-breaking rain could have proved disastrous. They had been praying for sunshine to allow numbers to recover.
The collates data collected by thousands of volunteers. Results show that eight butterfly species were at an all-time low in 2007 - the Common Blue, the Grayling, the Lulworth Skipper, the Small Skipper, the Small Tortoiseshell, the Speckled Wood and the Wall.
Other species that suffered badly included the High Brown Fritillary and the Duke of Burgundy, both already victims of years of decline.
If you want to become a volunteer helping document the plight of butterflies, the spread of alien invaders or explore climate change, contact Dr Helen Roy at hele@ceh.ac.uk.
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