ORTHOPTERA > CAELIFERA > Acrididae (Grasshoppers) > Gomphocerinae

This species was once only found in the south and southeast of the country but, over the years, has steadily spread northwards across much of central England, as far as Yorkshire on the east coast and west into parts of Wales but, rather strangely, hasn't taken a hold in the west country where it remains locally scarce.

Chorthippus albomarginatus is a medium-sized grasshopper, with the males being in the region of 14-17mm, and the females larger at 17-22mm with a more elongated body. They are typically plain light-green or straw-coloured, rarely pinkish. Some are entirely green on top with pale brown sides, whilst others may be buff or straw-coloured contrasting with light-green sides. In either case, the colours are subdued and never as bright as those that may be seen in some Meadow Grasshopper [Pseudochorthippus parallelus] individuals. It is also more likely to have a finely mottled head and sides of the pronotum than P.parallelus.

Both sexes are fully winged, but usually with the wingtips ending short of the end of the abdomen, although occasionally longer in the males, but never with the shorter winged females where the wingtips rarely reach the hind 'knees'. The female has a conspicuous white lower edge line along the forewings and a small costal bulge towards the base, which helps to distinguish them, but the males could be confused with the Meadow Grasshopper apart from the lack of dark hind 'knees' and the teardrop marking behind the eyes. Another point to note with this species is that the male's antennae are noticeably longer than that of the females.

The most defining feature though, is the relatively unmarked pronotum without any of the dark wedges found on other species, and with the side keels almost straight and parallel.

The species is strongly associated with damp areas and is often most abundant on coastal levels and along saltmarsh edge, but can also be found in a variety of grassland habitats, especially damper, rush-dominated ones with seasonal flooding. In these environments it may well be found alongside coneheads.

Their 'song', is described as a series of soft short 'burrs' repeated several times with pauses of a second or two between.