Natura Croatica Issue number: Natura Croatica, Vol. 32 No.1

Endangered Transsylvanian wingless groundhopper (Tetrix transsylvanica) is not extinct in Croatia and requires urgent protection

Authors: Josip Skejo, Jadranka Škorput, Marko Pavlović, Josef Tumbrinck, Johannes Tumbrinck, Ivica Pakrac, Mišo Rašan, Sebastian Ćato, Nikola Srpak, Maks Deranja, Karmela Adžić, Niko Kasalo

Authors and affiliation

  • Josip Skejo University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; IUCN/SSC Grasshopper Specialist Group
  • Jadranka Škorput KBC Zagreb, Kišpatićeva ulica 12, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
  • Marko Pavlović Prva privatna gimnazija s pravom javnosti Varaždin, Frana Supila 22, 42000 Varaždin, Croatia
  • Josef Tumbrinck IUCN/SSC Grasshopper Specialist Group; Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Berlin, Germany; Auf der Hees 1, Wassenberg, Germany
  • Johannes Tumbrinck Auf der Hees 1, Wassenberg, Germany
  • Ivica Pakrac Varaždinska ul. 130, HR-42000 Gornji Kućan, Croatia
  • Mišo Rašan Srednja škola Prelog, Čakovečka ul. 1, HR-40323 Prelog, Croatia
  • Sebastian Ćato Srednja strukovna škola Šibenik, Ante Šupuka 31, Šibenik HR-22000, Croatia
  • Nikola Srpak Srednja škola Prelog, Čakovečka ul. 1, HR-40323 Prelog, Croatia
  • Maks Deranja IUCN/SSC Grasshopper Specialist Group
  • Karmela Adžić IUCN/SSC Grasshopper Specialist Group
  • Niko Kasalo Matice hrvatske 11, 80101 Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The Transsylvanian wingless groundhopper, Tetrix transsylvanica (Bazyluk et Kis, 1960) is a flightless pygmy grasshopper (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) known only from a few fragmented localities and thus considered an endangered (EN) species in the IUCN Red List. The species consists of two subspecies, the nominal T. t. transsylvanica inhabiting the southern Carpathians in Romania, and T. transsylvanica hypsocorypha Skejo, 2014, until now known from a single locality in Slovenia (Mt Boč) and a single locality in Croatia where it was caught last time in the 1940s in Hrvatsko Zagorje (Gornja Pačetina, Trnovec). It is possible that the two subspecies represent separate species. The species has been considered extinct in Croatia. In this paper, we report the discovery of several subpopulations in Croatia, the largest one being at Siljevec on Ivanščica mountain. In addition, small subpopulations are reported on three other mountains (Strahinjčica, Medvednica and Zelinska gora), and two of them are suspected to be under threat of extinction: the subpopulation on the peak of Medvednica, Sljeme, and the subpopulation on Strahinjčica. The latter was discovered in a proximity of a quarry. The species is a (Pleistocene) relic and may be the only groundhopper endemic to Central Europe. Herewith, we appeal for its inclusion in the Ordinance on Strictly Protected Species of the Republic of Croatia, and for T. transsylvanica to be proposed as a candidate for the list of species protected through the Habitats Directive.

Keywords

conservation, threatened species, rare species, relict, endemic, Tetrix transsylvanica hypsocorypha, pygmy grasshopper, Ivanščica, Siljevec, Natura 2000 242

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