Maritime Toad Grasshopper
Paranocarodes straubei (Fieber, 1853)
Order Grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera)
Family Toad grasshoppers (Pamphagidae)
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Critically endangered CR [B1ab(i,ii,iii)].
General distribution. Southeastern Bulgaria, Turkey (the southwestern European part and Northwestern Anatolia), Greece (the islands of Lesbos and Chios). A tertiary relict [1].
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. The southern part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast: south of Burgas [2], between Veselie Village and the Ropotamo Reserve [3; Snezhana Grozeva, personal communication], Ropotamo [1], Maslen Nos Cape [2], Primorsko [1], Strandzha Mts. [2]; the Eastern Balkan Range: Sliven [2]. The specimens from Chernyovtsi Village in the Eastern Rhodopes collected in 1924 [2] belong to the closely related Paranocarodes chopardi, not described then [4]. Since 1917, the species has been found only in the area of the lower course of the Ropotamo river. Between 1920 and 1970, its populations were stable. In 1994, only six specimens were collected between Veselie and the Ropotamo, and during a visit in 2005 the species was not found.
Habitats. A xerophilic and stenohygrophylic species inhabiting open, sunny and sheltered against the winds mesoxerophytic grass associations and mesoxerophytic oak forests [1].
Biology. The nymphs hatch in August. They overwinter in third or fourth instar, hidden in the ground litter or under stones. In the spring they become active and moult one or two more times. Adults emerge in May and June. They mate in June and occur until (and including) July. Their food is the lower parts of various herbaceous plants. Females lay in the soil where the eggs remain for about two months.
Similar species. Paranocarodes chopardi (an Eastern Rhodopean endemic species) and Paranocaracris bulgaricus (mountains in Southwestern Bulgaria). Distinguishing features between the three species are the size and shape of the chitinous processes of the tergites and the shape of the tympanal opening [5].
Negative factors. Intensive development of tourist and urban infrastructure in the region of the southern part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast restricts the natural habitats of the species and may lead to the complete destruction of the population.
Conservation measures taken. One of the localities is situated in the Ropotamo Reserve.
Conservation measures needed. Investigations on the current state of the populations. Long-term monitoring on their dynamic. Extension of the territory of the Ropotamo Reserve with a strict regime of protection. Imposition of sanctions for any specimen collected or killed.
References. 1. Peshev, Djingova, 1974; 2. Buresch, Peschev, 1955; 3. Bugrov, Grozeva, 1998; 4. Popov, Chobanov, 2004; 5. Pechev, 1965.
Authors: Dragan Chobanov, Alexi Popov
