Chorthippus bozdaghi

Chorthippus bozdaghi, commonly known as the Bozdagh grasshopper, is a critically endangered species of grasshopper endemic to the Bozdağ Mountains of western Turkey.

Chorthippus bozdaghi
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Orthoptera
Suborder:	Caelifera
Family:	Acrididae
Genus:	Chorthippus
Species:	C. bozdaghi
Binomial name
Chorthippus bozdaghi Uvarov, 1934

Taxonomy and history

Chorthippus bozdaghi was described by Boris Uvarov in 1934 alongside Chorthippus ilkazi, another Turkish endemic which he considered closely related to C. bozadaghi.^[2] The holotype specimen was an adult male collected in 1931 by Uvarov himself from the Bozdağ Mountains.^[3] In 1975 it was placed in the Chorthippus subgenus Glyptobothrus.^[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

Chorthippus bozdaghi is known only from the subalpine zone of the Bozdağ Mountains of İzmir Province in western Anatolia, Turkey. It occurs in moist shrubland at altitudes of 1,490–1,770 m (4,890–5,810 ft). The associated plant community of this habitat includes Astragalus flavescens, Astragalus pungens, Asyneuma limonifolium, Bromus tomentellus, Festuca valesiaca, Osyris alba, and Vincetoxicum tmoleum.^[1][2]

Conservation status

Chorthippus bozdaghi is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List under criteria B1ab(i,ii,iii) and B2ab(i,ii,iii), based on its small, isolated range and damaged habitat. The population appears to be decreasing, have retreated further up the mountain over time. It is threatened by afforestation, agriculture, climate change, and the conversion of its habitat into arable land.^[1]