Giant steppe grasshopper (Prionotropis hystrix)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 222529609

Assessing the sensitivity to habitat changes of grasshoppers in the genus Prionotropis

Prionotropis is a genus of grasshoppers comprised of 9 species, half of which are assessed as threatened by the IUCN. Like many other Orthoptera, they are tightly linked to their habitat, making them great indicators of habitat quality. This project focuses on giant steppe grasshopper (Prionotropis hystrix (Germar, 1817)), a flightless species which inhabits dry Mediterranean pastures and forests. In Croatia, where most of the species’ distribution range is situated, both of those habitats are in decline and all the species linked to those habitat types are consequently threatened. Better understanding of dispersal abilities of non-flying species, microhabitat preferences, and intrapopulation variability of Prionotropis hystrix should help us understand how some of its congeners became threatened to the level of endangered or even critically endangered. With this project we aim to learn more about this understudied species and aid future conservation efforts done on all the species of this charismatic genus of grasshoppers.

 

Project collaborators: Maks Deranja, Karmela Adžić, Fran Rebrina, Josip Skejo, and Lisbeth Zechner.

Organization: Hrvatsko društvo za biološka istraživanja (eng. Croatian Biological Research Society)