The Genomics of Isolated Populations of Gampsocleis glabra (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) in Central and Western Europe.

Habitat destruction and fragmentation are among the major current threats to global biodiversity. Fragmentation may also affect species with good dispersal abilities. We study the heath bushcricket Gampsocleis glabra, a specialist of steppe-like habitats across Europe that are highly fragmented, investigating if these isolated populations can be distinguished using population genomics and if there are any traces of admixture or dispersal among them. We try to answer these questions using genome-wide SNP data generated with ddRAD sequencing. We calculated F-statistics and visualized differentiation using STRUCTURE plots. While limited by the difficulty of sampling this threatened species, our results show that all populations except one that was represented by a singleton were clearly distinct, with pairwise FST values between 0.010 and 0.181. STRUCTURE indicated limited but visible admixture across most populations and probably also an exchange of individuals between populations of Germany and The Netherlands. We conclude that in G. glabra, a certain amount of gene flow has persisted, at least in the past, also among populations that are isolated today. We also detect a possibly more recent dispersal event between a population in The Netherlands and one in Germany, which may be human aided. We suggest that the conservation of larger populations should be maintained, that efforts should be taken to restore abandoned habitat, that the preservation even of small habitat fragments may be beneficial for the conservation of this species, and that these habitats should be regularly monitored for possible (re-)colonization.

Island mysteries in the spotlight: Barbitistes kaltenbachi and Rhacocleis buchichii, the only bush-cricket species endemic to Croatia (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae).

Hvar Saw Bush-cricket Barbitistes kaltenbachi Harz, 1965 (Phaneropterinae: Barbitistini) and Lesina Bush-cricket Rhacocleis buchichii Brunner von Wattenwyl in Herman 1874 (Tettigoniinae: Platycleidini) are flightless orthopterans restricted to a narrow area in the Mediterranean part of Croatia, both originally described from Hvar Island. In this study, all available information on these two interesting species is presented: data on morphology, bioacoustics, distribution, habitat, and a key to identification of the species belonging to genera Barbitistes and Rhacocleis in Croatia. The songs of both B. kaltenbachi and R. buchichii are described here for the first time, with the former one being the second known example of a synchronising and presumably duetting species. Both species were reassessed according to the IUCN Red List criteria, where B. kaltenbachi should be considered an endangered species, while R. buchichii is suggested to be downgraded to a less threatened category. Biogeography and evolution of the species are briefly discussed.

Orthoptera (Insecta: Tettigonioidea, Pyrgomorphoidea, Acridoidea) of Kafa Biosphere Reserve, Bale Mountains National Park and other areas of conservation interest in Ethiopia.

An annotated checklist of 51 Orthoptera taxa (Tettigonioidea, Pyrgomorphoidea and Acridoidea) of Kafa Biosphere Reserve, Bale Mountains National Park and some additional sites in Ethiopia is presented. Ten species are newly recorded for the country. Four species are new to science: Peropyrrhicia attilioi n. sp., P. keffensis n. sp., P. semiensis n. sp. and Coryphosima danieli n. sp. The status of Peropyrrhicia cooperi Uvarov, 1934 and P. scotti Uvarov, 1934 is revised: both are considered valid species.