Ephippiger Explained

Ephippiger is a genus of Palaearctic bush crickets described by Berthold in 1827, belonging to the family Tettigoniidae, subfamily Bradyporinae and tribe Ephippigerini.^[1]

Description

Bush crickets of this genus have very small wings and the pronotum resembles a saddle (the Latin name ephippium means 'saddle of a horse').

The atrophied wings of Ephippiger species are unfit for flight and are only used for the emission of sounds (stridulation).

Distribution

Species of this genus are mainly present in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain, Iran and Switzerland.^[1]

List of species

1. Ephippiger apulus (Ramme, 1933)
2. Ephippiger camillae Fontana & Massa, 2000
3. Ephippiger carlottae Fontana & Odé, 2003
4. Ephippiger cavannai Targioni-Tozzetti, 1881
5. Ephippiger diurnus Dufour, 1841
6. Ephippiger ephippiger (Fiebig, 1784) - type species (as Gryllus ephippiger Fiebig = E. ephippiger ephippiger)
7. Ephippiger melisi Baccetti, 1959
8. Ephippiger perforatus (Rossius, 1790)
9. Ephippiger persicarius Fruhstorfer, 1921
10. Ephippiger provincialis Yersin, 1854
11. Ephippiger ruffoi Galvagni, 1955
12. Ephippiger terrestris Yersin, 1854
13. Ephippiger tropicalis Baccetti, 1985
14. Ephippiger zelleri Fischer, 1853

References

• Berthold, 1827 : Latreille's Naturliche Familien des Thierreichs / aus dem Franzosischen, mit Anmerkungen und Zusätzen, von Arnold Adolph Berthold (texte original).
• Michel Chinery, insectes de France 2005

Notes and References

1. https://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/otus/841669/overview Orthoptera Species File