Butterscotch Waxcap vs Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket

Gliophorus europerplexus compared with Antaxius chopardi

Key Differences

• Butterscotch Waxcap is Vulnerable while Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Butterscotch Waxcap	Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Orthoptera (Orthoptera)
Family	Hygrophoraceae	Tettigoniidae
Genus	Gliophorus	Antaxius
Species	Gliophorus europerplexus	Antaxius chopardi

Conservation Status

Butterscotch Waxcap

VU — Vulnerable

Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Butterscotch Waxcap

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Denmark and Norway. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Chopard's Mountain Bush-cricket

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Butterscotch Waxcap

The Butterscotch Waxcap (Gliophorus europerplexus) is a species in the genus Gliophorus. It is currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

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.