Dark Bush Crickets in the Greenhouse

Sue Morton writes:

Jenny Insch spotted two dark bush crickets in her greenhouse at the beginning of October, and sent me a photo and video. What were they up to?

The crickets were close together, and the video showed them waving their antennae and climbing over each other, while their vibrating short wings showed they were both chirping. Initially we wondered if they could have been a courting/mating pair, but then realised that only male dark bush crickets have wings. So Jenny’s crickets were probably rival males trying to out-chirp each other to attract a female. Jenny reported the next day that there were no females in sight, and after some more frantic chirping, the two males appeared to give up; one was enjoying a tomato, while the other basked in a sunny spot.

As a post script, I have been out in my garden this evening (18th October) with my bat detector, and can report that my resident speckled bush crickets are still around, with a few still clicking in the lilac tree.