Italian locust
Taxonomy
Orthoptera » Caelifera » Acridoidea » Acrididae » Cyrtacanthacridinae » Calliptamus italicus
Status
MI
Distribution Map
Colours show the year of the last record -
| up to 1987 | 1988-97 | 1998 up to present |
Only Recording Scheme datasets are included. Other datasets on the Gateway may hold additional information.
Recordings
Description
Robust rufous-brown grasshopper with vertically striped eyes, mottled forewings and red bases to the hind wings that become conspicuous in flight.
Size
13 - 36 mm
Wings
Fully winged.
Stridulation
No stridulation; song is produced by the male grating its jaws (mandibles) against each other.
Food
Herbivorous. The species can be a serious pest of cereals, cotton and citrus trees in its native range.
Habitat
Native to southern, central and eastern Europe, where the species lives in meadows and on agricultural land. In Britain it occurs as a scarce vagrant or accidental import.
Phenology
Adults appear from July to November in their native range.