Speckled Green Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima) - Female

Speckled Green Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima) - Female, originally uploaded by Pipsissiwa.
Identification via Chinery / McGavin / Marshall & Haes.

Speckled Green Cricket Nymph (Leptophyes punctatissima)

Speckled Green Cricket Nymph, originally uploaded by Pipsissiwa.
Identification via Chinery / McGavin / Marshall & Haes.

These crickets are a common sight in my garden from mid-spring. This is an immature individual. This one was drinking from a rain droplet on the leaf.

Speckled Green Cricket Nymph (Leptophyes punctatissima)

Speckled Green Cricket Nymph, originally uploaded by Pipsissiwa.
Identification via Chinery / McGavin / Marshall & Haes.

When very young these crickets are extremely darkly and densely spotted, but this reduces with each moult until they are primarily green with faint spotting. They are a nightmare to photograph well because as soon as you get close they instinctively turn their back. Sneaky techniques have to be used to make them face the camera, which don't always work :)