Scientific Name: Ephippiger ephippiger Tettigoniidae
English Name: Saddle-backed Bushcricket.
French Name: Le Tizi (= an onomatopaeic reference to the repetative two note call they make); l'Ephippigère des vignes (= 'Vine Bushcricket'); Hotteux (= 'hoody'); Porte-hotte (= 'hood wearer'); Porte-selle (= 'saddle wearer'); Porte-selle de la vigne (= 'vine saddle wearer'); Gril (= 'grill'); Bourdrague; Sauterelle à selle (= 'saddled grasshopper'); Sauterelle à cymbale (= 'cymballed grasshopper'; Jeudi (= presumably another onomatopaeic reference to the call).
5 Key Characters:
- the only species of Ephippiger to occur in this area.
- can be green or brown.
- abdomen often banded.
- female ovipositor 25mm long and gently curved.
- chirping song is described as distinctive (sound recording here).
Lookalikes: Many other species of Bushcrickets Tettigoniidae, but none of them present in this area have the distinctive raised 'saddle'.
Habitat: Rough ground and scrub, vineyards.
Adult Active Period: July-August-September-October-November.
Status: Recorded at the sites shown on this map. Note that it is found over almost the whole of France (but curiously has not been recorded in Loir et Cher (41). Can be a pest of vineyards.
Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
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| Male in Besom Heath / Gorse scrub near Yzeures sur Creuse, October. |
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| Male in Besom Heath / Gorse scrub near Yzeures sur Creuse, October. |
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| Male in Besom Heath / Gorse scrub near Yzeures sur Creuse, October. |
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