Calliptamus italicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status: Occasional migrant.

Description: Robust rufous-brown grasshopper with vertically striped eyes, mottled forewings and red bases to the hind wings that become conspicuous in flight.

Size: 13 - 36 mm

Wings: Fully winged.

Stridulation: No stridulation; song is produced by the male grating its jaws (mandibles) against each other.

Food: Herbivorous. The species can be a serious pest of cereals, cotton and citrus trees in its native range.

Habitat: Native to southern, central and eastern Europe, where the species lives in meadows and on agricultural land. In Britain it occurs as a scarce vagrant or accidental import.

Phenology: Adults appear from July to November in their native range.

Distribution: This species is not present in the National Biodiversity Network Database currently (October 2008).