Ephippiger terrestris
Ephippiger terrestris, common name Alpine saddle-backed bush-cricket, is a bush cricket species belonging to the family Tettigoniidae, subfamily Bradyporinae.
Subspecies
include:- Ephippiger terrestris bormansi Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1882
- Ephippiger terrestris caprai Nadig, 1980
- Ephippiger terrestris terrestris Yersin, 1854
Distribution
This species is present in Middle and Southwestern Europe. The subspecies E. terrestris bormansi occurs only in northern Italy and southern Switzerland.Habitat
This species occurs in warm mountain meadows and pastures, in open rocks and in dwarf shrubs, at an elevation of above sea level.Description
Ephippiger terrestris can reach a body length of about in males, of about in females, while ovipositor can reach about.These bush crickets are usually bluish-green. However, in both sexes the body color is quite variable and often olive-green, beige and sepia-brown color variations occur. A yellowish line runs from the lower edge of the pronotum to the abdomen end. Two bright longitudinal lines run along the back sides.
The back of the head is black. The form of the pronotum is rather smooth and gently concave and resembles a saddle. They have round small atrophied wings, protruding a few millimeters below the pronotum, that are unfit to flight and only used for the emission of sounds. In the females the ovipositor is long and slightly curved upwards. In the male cerci stand out clearly and are cylindrical and relatively long.