The Common Field Grasshopper is one of the most frequently seen grasshoppers in England, along side the Mottled, the Common Green and the Meadow Grasshopper. It is sometimes mistaken for a cricket although a cricket has quite long antennae and the Common Field Grasshopper has relatively short antennae.

The Common Field Grasshopper is approximately two centimetres in length and is usually a brown colour, but sometimes it can be a green, grey or even a purplish colour. Its body is often covered with darker marking and it has light vertical stripes running down its abdomen. It has six legs and its hind legs are very strong and long which help the grasshopper to hop. This grasshopper very rarely hops, although it can hop a distance of over a metre.

Common Field Grasshoppers like to live in dry grassy areas such as in meadows and fields, but they can also be seen on roadsides and wasteland. They particularly like the sun and are often seen sunning themselves on walls, bare patches of grass and even on paths. Male Common Field Grasshoppers can also be heard ‘chirping’ when they want to attract females. They make the chirping sounds by quickly rubbing their hind legs against their forewings.