Distribution and conservation status of Mioscirtus wagneri maghrebi Fernandes, 1968 in the Lleida Plain and other orthopteran species in the saline environments of the Lleida Plain

Abstract

Saline environments, including salt marshes (Suaeda vera subsp. braun-blanquetii), a habitat of community interest, are currently very scarce environments in the interior of Catalonia due to their transformation into irrigated crops. Among the orthopterans that live in these environments, we find Mioscirtus wagneri (Eversmann, 1859), a species that is discontinuously distributed from the Iberian Peninsula to western China. The data on Mioscirtus wagneri in Catalonia until now were scarce and relatively recent (year 1996), which is why it is listed as Vulnerable. In order to try to rectify the lack of knowledge, in 2022 all the sectors of the Lleida Plain defined as saline in the Cartography of the Habitats of Catalonia have been sampled. In addition, those saline sectors not included in the cartography of habitats known to the authors were also sampled. A total of 50 localities were sampled, in 14 of which Mioscirtus wagneri was detected. The distribution is wider than that known until now, although it is concentrated in the western sector of the Plain. However, the densities are very uneven and its population is very fragmented and occupies patches with Suaeda vera, sometimes extremely small. The study has shown that the mapping of Catalonia’s habitats does not include all of the saline areas and that even those mapped are strongly altered. Of the 50 prospected polygons, 22 were not mapped, despite the presence of Suaeda vera in all of them. In addition to Mioscirtus wagneri, 33 other species were detected during the surveys, among which it is worth highlighting 3 that are also characteristic of saline environments. Specifically, Heteraclis adspersa (Redtenbacher, 1889) has been detected in one locality, Tropidopola cylindrica (Marschall, 1836) in 4 localities and Calephorus compressicornis (Latreille, 1804) in one locality. It should be noted that Heteraclis adspersa had so far never been detected in Catalonia. The high fragmentation of the distribution of Mioscirtus wagneri in the plana de Lleida, as well as the marginality, the poor state of conservation and the lack of protection of the saline sectors it occupies make the situation of this species very worrying indeed and that it is it is essential to adopt measures for the conservation of its habitat.