Cortippo di Conca Cialancia

This orthopteran insect that we commonly call grasshopper is, in reality, a rare endemism typical of the central Cottian Alps. It was discovered in the area between Conca Cialancia - hence the name - and the Thirteen Lakes in Val Germanasca by the Swiss entomologist Adolf Nadig (1910-2003) who in 1986 published a description of it based on some specimens collected the previous year.
It is characterized by a grey-blue head and thorax, relatively short wings, red abdomen and hind legs in males, while females have a more camouflage colour, but are easily recognizable by their wings that do not reach half of the abdomen . Where the species is present, it is also easy to hear the characteristic "song", i.e. the stridulation that the males emit by rubbing their hind legs on the wings to attract the females.
It has very special ecological needs: in fact it is found only at high altitudes, above 2000 m, where it prefers meadow environments at the edges of walls and rocks, preferably on slopes exposed to the south or east. The reason for this particular habitat selection is not yet entirely clear, but it could be linked to less competition with other species or to the higher temperature present near the rocks, which quickly absorb the sun's heat in the morning, slowly releasing it into the surrounding environment even in case of fog which in this area of the western Alps often occurs on summer afternoons.

State of conservation

Unfortunately, like all typically Alpine species, the Cortippo di Conca Cialancia is also threatened with extinction due to climate change, especially due to the limited extension of its range. The IUCN Red List of European Orthoptera classifies Chorthippus cialancensis in the "Near-threatened" category, but this is a classification that will probably need to be revised in the near future, also following in-depth studies on the ecology of the species which will have to be conducted.