vs Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket

Asperococcus ensiformis compared with Antaxius chopardi

Key Differences

• is Data Deficient while Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket
Kingdom	Chromista (Chromista)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Ochrophyta (Ochrophyta)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Phaeophyceae (Phaeophyceae)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Ectocarpales (Ectocarpales)	Orthoptera (Orthoptera)
Family	Chordariaceae	Tettigoniidae
Genus	Asperococcus	Antaxius
Species	Asperococcus ensiformis	Antaxius chopardi

Conservation Status

DD — Data Deficient

Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests spanning the Australasia and Oceanian realms.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, New Zealand, and Norway.

Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Asperococcus ensiformis is a tubular to flattened brown alga forming elongated, sac-like or sword-shaped thalli attached to rocky substrates. It inhabits intertidal and shallow subtidal rocky shores of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. This photosynthetic macroalga grows on rocks and larger algae in wave-exposed coastal zones.

Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket

Chopard's Mountain Bush-Cricket (Antaxius chopardi) is a bush-cricket (katydid) in the family Tettigoniidae, endemic to mountain ranges in the western Mediterranean region, likely including the Pyrenees and associated mountain systems of southern France and northern Spain. Bush-crickets of the genus Antaxius are large, robust tettigoniids characterised by females bearing a pronounced ovipositor for egg insertion into soil or plant tissue, and males producing species-specific stridulatory songs by rubbing modified wing structures. Despite the name mountain bush-cricket, members of this genus inhabit a range of grass-shrub-dominated montane habitats including rocky slopes, mountain meadows, and scrubland edges. They are primarily herbivorous, feeding on grasses, herbs, and low shrubs, though they may supplement their diet with small invertebrates. Stridulation songs are important for species identification in this cryptically coloured group, as multiple Antaxius species may co-occur in the same mountain range. The IUCN classifies this species as Least Concern, with populations found across suitable montane habitats within its range. The species is named after Lucien Chopard, recognising his extensive contributions to the study of European orthopteran (crickets and grasshoppers) biodiversity. Climate change-driven shifts in vegetation zones may pose future threats to montane endemic invertebrates.