Field Trip Report: Orthoptera seen at Verona workshop

Very common species found in most visited localities: Phaneroptera nana, Leptophyes laticauda, Tettigonia viridissima, Decticus albifrons, Platycleis grisea, Pholidoptera griseoaptera, Gryllus campestris, Pezotettix giornae, Calliptamus italicus, Chorthippus brunneus, Euchorthippus declivus.

Other frequent species found in 3 out of the 5 visited localities: Tylopsis lilifolia, Ruspolia nitidula, Eupholidoptera schmidti, Acrida ungarica, Acrotylus patruelis.

For the first fieldtrip of the workshop we didn’t go far: we visited the Adige Sud Park, a river flood plain of almost 2 million square meters inside the city of Verona. It includes the area of the Adige river in the northern and southern sections of Verona, which are linked by itineraries running along the river from the dam of Chievo to the areas of Boschetto, Giarol Grande, and Bosco Buri. In 2005 it was characterised as “a protected area of local interest” on a municipal and state estate. Here, we found 20 Orthopteran species. It was great to see such a high diversity of orthopterans inside a city park!

Species only in this locality: Roeseliana azami. Also detected in night field work: Locusta migratoria, Conocephalus fuscus.

Also in present loc 2: Gomphocerippus rufus.

Also in present loc 4: Tessellana tessellata, Pteronemobius heydenii.

Also in present loc 5: Pseudochorthippus parallelus.

Our second visit was the hill of Monte Tenda above Soave Castle. It is a beautiful xerothermic hill characterised by a cypress forest (Cupressus sempervirens) and shrubby vegetation. Other trees like the European nettle tree (Celtis australis), maple (Acer sp.), and the manna ash (Fraxinus ornus) also occur there, but most importantly we found there 18 Orthopteran species. There were also hundreds of cicadas screaming constantly and relentlessly, which presented a big challenge for getting good sound recordings for the Orthopterans; but we pulled through! Most common Orthopteran sounds in the area were the songs of Decticus albifrons and Platycleis grisea. Our fieldtrip ended in a local winery, were we tasted a wonderful white wine. It was most refreshing in that hot summer day!

Species only in this locality: Anacridium aegyptium, Calliptamus siciliae, Oedipoda caerulescens.

The same night we visited another area of the Adige Sud Park in Verona, a part of the park including mostly fields and abandoned fields, as well as a more forested area, in order to collect nocturnal sound recordings. Here, we found a total of 22 orthopteran species. In the quietness of night and without the cicada songs that were drowning all sounds during the day, we managed to record and identify more orthopteran species than in the previous excursions. Most impressive species was Ruspolia nitindula, a bush-cricket whose song is extremely loud, especially when you draw too close, sounding like a deafening electric discharge.

Species only in this locality: Eumodicogryllus bordigalensis, Oecanthus pellucens.

Also in present loc 4: Yersinella raymondi, Tetrix tenuicornis.

The next day we visited the Parco della Biodiversità in Fumane. It consists of a mixed landscape, including karst valleys, forests and wet areas around two artificial lakes, as well as arid meadows. The park hosts numerous animal and plant species included in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive which are worthy of protection. This variety of habitats was reflected to the number of Orthopteran species we found: 28, the most we have detected in a single locality. Standout finding was the beautiful Saw-tailed Bush-cricket Barbitistes serricauda, an arboreal bush-cricket.

Species only in this locality: Barbitistes serricauda, Barbitistes vicetinus, Poecilimon elegans, Meconema meridionale, Pholidoptera fallax, Pachytrachis striolatus, Paratettix meridionalis, Sphingonotus caerulans.

Also in present loc 5: Pholidoptera aptera.

Our last fieldtrip brought us to the alpine meadows and pastures at the ski center of Bosco Chiesanuova, following the road from San Giorgio, a ski school, to Conca dei Parpari. In an altitude of 1600m, we enjoyed a walk through the beautiful meadows of the Alps, always with our recording devices in hand. The most prevalent by far sound we recorded was the soft Gryllus campestris song, but the short trill of Poecilimon ornatus was also common in the more humid areas with green bushes. This was the poorest locality regarding the number of species, with only 14 species found between all participants.

Species only in this locality: Poecilimon ornatus, Tettigonia cantans, Decticus verrucivorus, Tetrix bipunctata, Omocestus rufipes, Omocestus viridulus, Stenobothrus lineatus.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme within the framework of the TETTRIs Project funded under Grant Agreement Nr 101081903.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union nor REA can be held responsible for them.