Saving the small things that run the planetLatin name: Pseudomogoplistes vincentae
Notable feature: Females have three long ovipositors at the rear end of the body (used to lay eggs).
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Where in the UK: Shingle beaches, known from three locations in South West England.
The Scaly Cricket (Pseudomogoplistes vincentae) is a small cricket species native to the UK, that varies in colour from grey to chestnut brown. Both their body and legs are covered in minute scales which can sometimes be seen on top of the abdomen. Typically, their legs are a pale beige colour.
You can find the Scaly Cricket on coastal shingle beaches. Until the late 1990s, the Scaly Cricket was thought to only be present on Chesil Beach in Dorset. The first recorded discovery of the species was a single adult female on Chesil Beach in 1949. A male Scaly Cricket wasn’t recorded until 1977 in the same location. Up until that point many theorised that the Scaly Cricket bred parthenogenically (eggs are produced without fertilization by a male). Subsequently, the species was recorded at Branscombe Beach in Devon in 1998 and at Rousdon near Lyme Regis, Dorset in 2021.
Buglife is working to increase awareness and understanding of invertebrates and the Scaly Cricket through species recovery projects. Volunteers are needed to help survey new locations across the south coast of England. Visit the Scaly Cricket Project page to find out how you can get involved.
Join a recording scheme and log your finds – submit any records/sightings on the iRecord app.
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