Callimenus
Callimenus macrogaster (Lefebvre, 1831)
Callimenus longicollis Fieb.: Nedelkov, 1908: 434; Nedelkov, 1909: 93; Buresch, Peschev, 1958: 73-76; Pechev, 1974: 106, 109, 124; Pechev, 1975: 99.
Order Grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera)
Family Bradyporid long-horned grasshoppers (Bradyporidae)
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Critically endangered CR [A2c; B1ab(i,ii,iv,v)].
General distribution. Eastern Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romanian Moldavia, Romanian Dobrudzha (Dobrogea), Greek Thrace, Rhodes Island and Western Anatolia.
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. It has been found in 27 localities in the Danubian Plain [1, 2], at the foot of the mountains Lyulin and Vitosha [3], in the Sofia area [2, unpublished data], the Thracian Lowland [1, 2], the Eastern Rhodopes [4, 5] and the Black Sea coast [2]. In most of them it was established from the end of the 19th century to the 1950s. Extinct in almost all localities around Sofia in the middle of the previous century [2] and in some other regions of the country, and its population density decreased [5]. The range in Bulgaria is very fragmented and the number of the localities declined many times in the last decades. The latest records are from the Sofia field near Bezden Village (2005, 2006) and from the Eastern Rhodopes: Ivaylovgrad area (1963, 2002) and Plevun (1970).
Habitats. A mesohygrobitic and a stenohygrophilic species inhabiting steppe and lowland grass and shrub associations [6].
Biology. The nymphs hatch at the end of February and in March. The adults occur in Southern Bulgaria from the middle of May to August, and in Northern Bulgaria from June to September. Mating and egg-laying take place in June and July. Sometimes the eggs remain in a state of hyperpause for several years. The food consists of juicy and rotting vegetation parts, seeds, dead insects and living invertebrates. The males produce a very loud song, heard from a distance of 1 km.
Similar species. Bradyporus dasypus, from which it differs with the light hind part of the pronotum.
Negative factors. Enlargement of the agricultural fields, machine processing of the land and destruction of shrubs near the fields [2], as well as treatment with herbicides and pesticides.
Conservation measures taken. None.
Conservation measures needed. Inclusion of the species in the annexes on threatened and protected species to the Biological Diversity Act. Establishment of a Protected Territory in part of the Eastern Rhodopes.
References. 1. Nedelkov, 1909; 2. Buresch, Peschev, 1958; 3. Nedelkov, 1908; 4. Pechev, 1975; 5. Popov, Chobanov, 2004; 6. Pechev, 1974.
Authors: Alexi Popov, Dragan Chobanov
