I had to stay home for a delivery for part of the day yesterday but finally managed to get out for a local ramble mid afternoon. When I returned home, despite having closed all the windows and locked my front door, I found an unexpected visitor sitting on my toilet seat.

I knew it was a cricket of some kind (long antennae – though this little one has lost one of its antennae, so not a grasshopper) but I wasn’t sure which it was. Luckily, I found an excellent ID chart that I could download (from Orthoptera.org.uk here) and this list of features fit my visitor perfectly: long wings; pale green colour; 1.5-2cm; nocturnal and attracted to light, sometimes found indoors. It’s an Oak bush-cricket (Meconema thalassinum) and it has now been relocated outdoors.