DIVERSITY OF BUSH-CRICKETS, CRICKETS, AND GRASSHOPPERS (Orthoptera) IN PRESPA NATIONAL PARK (ALBANIA) (with additional information on Mantodea and Dermaptera) Dragan Petrov Chobanov Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria [email protected] 1. Introduction The orthopterans (commonly known as bush-crickets, crickets and grasshoppers) belong to the order Orthoptera Olivier of the infraclass Gryllones Laicharting of the class Insecta. This group is known from remains dated back to the Late Carboniferous, and have undergone four major evolutionary stadia since that time. The orthopterans are almost equally distributed within two suborders – Ensifera (including the bush-crickets and crickets) and Caelifera (including the grasshoppers and their allies). The recent representatives of Orthoptera are included in 13 superfamilies (Flook et al. 1999) with over 26 000 valid species (Eades et al. 2013), distributed over all continents but Antarctica, while the greatest diversity is characteristic for the tropical climate regions. Some bioacoustic biodiversity- monitoring studies conducted in the tropics suggest significantly greater diversity of taxa (some 70 000 species suggested by Riede 1998). The orthopterans are carnivorous (ancestral/plesiomorphic state), omnivorous or vegetarians, inhabiting a variety of habitats and niches, occurring from the sea level in saline sandy habitats to the nival zone in the mountains, the highest occurrence may be referred to Hypernephia everesti Uv. known from the Everest slopes at 5600 m alt. The group has an important part in many food chains, frequently representing main (at least seasonal) food source for many animals. Amongst the herbivors there are species, that form plagues of millions individuals moving together and causing enormous damage to crops. On the other hand, most species may be used as human food, which is practice in some tropical regions. About 1400 accepted species names are currently recognized on the territory of Europe (The Orthoptera of Europe, www.ortheur.org/orthoptera/i000000.html). The diversity of this group is highest in the southern parts of Europe and is strongly defined by the high endemism. The Balkan Peninsula is the richest in species with over 40% of the species, which might be due to the combined influence of the old land history of the southern 1 Balkans, the long historical connection with Anatolia and Europe, as well as to the diverse geology and climatic history. 1.1 Literature review (present knowledge) The orthopteran fauna of Albania is poorly known in comparison to the neighboring territories and lists about 125 species (Heller & de Jong 2013). For example, this number makes around 74% of the species number known for the Republic of Macedonia (compare Chobanov & Mihajlova 2010, Lemonnier-Darcemont 2010) having similar area and geographic position. According to these data and some unpublished information (own data; Gellert Puskas, personal information), a significant contribution to this number should be expected, including new taxa for the science. The region of Prespa Lake is partly studied on the territory of Macedonia (Micevski et al. 2003), while no data are published from the Albanian side of this region. 1.2 Conservation importance of the investigated group The conservation importance of the group is dominated by high share of endemic species with restricted ranges and narrow econiches that may be vunerable to direct and indirect anthropogenic impact. The low knowledge on the faunistic diversity and distribution of taxa of Orthoptera in Albania combined with the widely spread human pressure to the natural habitats makes this country favorable for achieving biodiversity studies and implementing conservation strategies based on Orthoptera. 2. Methodology 1.3 Sampling methods Collection material has been gathered mostly by hand (or using an entomologic net) within the vegetation cover, as well as under stones, in the leaf litter or by observing tree branches and rocks both during daytime and at night. As orthopterans are primarily acoustically communicating animals, the sound communication is of a major importance in the species- specific recognition from distance. Thus, tracking their sound emissions and the sound- recognition was another main sampling method. In addition, pitfall traps have been used to check early-seasonal faunal composition, as well as to try collect hidden living species. 1.4 Determination of species and their distribution areas When possible, determination has been mainly done directly in the field by visual or acoustic identification. Thus, we avoided unnecessary killing of animals. In case of unclear identification, representative specimens have been collected in ethanol. The latter material, 2 as well as material collected by pitfall traps, has been identified by comparison with the authors' collection or various literature sources (e.g. some identification keys like Harz 1969, 1975, Willemse 1975 etc.). 3. Investigated area List of localities and habitats are given below together with the species assemblages recorded for each of these. 4. Results 4.1 Species diversity Altogether 68 species of Orthoptera, 3 of Mantodea and 2 of Dermaptera have been recorded during the present study. The following species are recorded for the first time for Albania: 1. Leptophyes punctatissima (Bosc, 1792) 2. Metrioptera cf. roeselii roeselii (Hagenbach, 1822) (sensu Heller 1988; Chobanov 2012) 3. Pholidoptera macedonica Ramme, 1928 4. Pholidoptera fallax (Fischer, 1853) 5. Pachytrachis gracilis (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1861) 6. Gampsocleis abbreviata Herman, 1874 7. Troglophilus zorae Karaman & Pavicevic, 2011 8. Troglophilus cavicola (Kollar, 1933) 9. Troglophilus lazaropolensis Z. Karaman, 1958 10. Ovaliptila cf. newmanae (Harz, 1969) 11. Celes variabilis (Pallas, 1771) 12. Arcyptera microptera (Fischer de Wldheim, 1833) 13. Stenobothrus fischeri (Eversmann, 1848) 14. Omocestus minutus (Brulle, 1832) 15. Chorthippus biguttulus euhedickei v. Helversen, 1986 16. Chorthippus bornhalmi Harz, 1971 17. Chorthippus mollis (Charpentier, 1825) MANTODEA 18. Ameles heldreichi Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1882 3 Thus, the list of Orthoptera of Albania is enriched with 15% and reached about 140, the list of Mantodea – with 17% and reached 7 species. Species by localities: 1. Albania, Great Prespa lake shore, mesophyte meadows, Tuminec (Tuminets = Kallamasi), 24.V.-25.VI.2013, N40.89769°, E020.93342°, 860 m a.s.l., soil traps Melanogryllus desertus – 1 f 2. Albania, Great Prespa lake shore, mesophyte meadows, Tuminec (Tuminets = Kallamasi), 24.V..2013, N40°53'51”, E020°56'02”, 850 m a.s.l. Phaneroptera cf. nana – 1 m nymph 1st instar Tettigonia viridissima – 3 m & 1 f nymphs Pteronemobius heydenii heydenii – 1 m nymph last instar Oedipoda caerulescens – 1 f nymph Chorthippus cf. bornhalmi – 2 m nymphs last instar 3. Albania, Great Prespa lake, Mali Grad island, mesophyte ruderal grasses and scrub, 25.IX.2013 Platycleis affinis – observed Platycleis albopunctata grisea – 1 f Gryllus campestris – small nymph observed Calliptamus italicus – observed Oedipoda caerulescens – observed Omocestus minutus – 1 f Chorthippus dorsatus – 1 m, 1 f 4. Albania, Great Prespa lake shore, meso- to hygrophyte ruderal meadow at Globočani Vill (Gollomboc), N40°51'26.9”, E020°56'34.5”, 865 m a.s.l. Pteronemobius heydenii heydenii – 1 m, 2 f Gryllotalpa sp. – 1 nymph last instar Tetrix bolivari – 1 m Forficula auricularia – 1 f 5. Albania, Great Prespa lake shore, stony slope at Globočani Vill (Gollomboc), 865 m a.s.l., 26.IX.2013, night collecting Troglophilus neglectus-group cf. zorae – 1 f Ameles heldreichii – 1 m 6. Albania, Great Prespa lake, Shuec vill., 26.V.2013, N40°41'05.9”, E020°59'55.3”, 868 m a.s.l. 4 (Mantodea) Empusa fasciata 7. Albania, Great Prespa lake shore, scrub on limestone above Globočani vill. (Gollomboc), ~1000 m a.s.l., 23.VI.2013 Tylopsis lilifolia – nymphs observed Eupholidoptera chabrieri – nymph last instar observed Tettigonia viridissima – males sing and nymphs last instar observed Tettigonia caudata – 1 m Pezotettix giornae – nymphs observed Oedipoda caerulescens – nymphs last instar Oedipoda germanica – 2 m, nymphs last instar observed Chorthippus bornhalmi - observed 8. Albania, Great Prespa lake shore, scrub on limestone above Globočani vill. (Gollomboc), ~1000 m a.s.l., 23.IX.2013 Platycleis albopunctata grisea – 1 f Platycleis cf. intermedia – 1 f Platycleis affinis – 1 m Eupholidoptera chabrieri – observed Tettigonia viridissima – males sing Gryllus campestris – nymphs observed Pezotettix giornae – 1 m, 1 f Oedipoda caerulescens – 1 f Oedipoda germanica – 1 f Omocestus minutus – 1 m, 1 f Chorthippus mollis – 2 f 9. Albania, Mikra Prespa lake shore, mesohygrophyte grass community near Treni vill., 24.VI.2013, all observed Tettigonia viridissima Conocephalus discolor – small nymphs Pteronemobius heydenii heydenii Chorthippus bornhalmi 10. Albania, Mikra Prespa lake shore, Buxus sempervirens shrubland (highly degraded and modified Querco-Carpinetum orientalis forest) on limestone rocks, 870 m, N40.68515°, E020.99625°, 24.VI.2013, all observed Phaneroptera cf. nana – nymphs 2nd instar Platycleis sp. – nymphs Pezotettix gionrae – small nymphs 5 Oedipoda caerulescens – nymphs Oedipoda germanica – recently moulted imagines 11. Albania, Great Prespa lake shore, Buxus sempervirens shrubland (highly degraded and modified Querco-Carpinetum orientalis forest) on limestone rocks near vill. Zrnosko