Calliptamus italicus
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Calliptamus italicus, the Italian locust, is a species of 'short-horned grasshopper' belonging to the family Acrididae, subfamily Calliptaminae. This species is native of the steppes of Central Asia, but it is also present in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, in North Africa, and in the Near East.
Calliptamus italicus is found in Western Europe and Central Asia. Its range extends from North Africa and the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea to Central Europe, Central Asia, Mongolia and western Siberia. These grasshoppers can be encountered from July through October. It thrives in warm dry habitats with sparse vegetation cover such as grasslands and rocky steppes, old quarries, gravel pits, rock-strewn areas beside rivers, sand dunes and fallow land.
Calliptamus italicus is a medium-sized grasshopper characterized by a significant sexual dimorphism. The adult males grow up to 14–26 millimetres (0.55–1.02 in) long, while females reach 21–40 millimetres (0.83–1.57 in) of length. This species is quite variable in size and colour. The basic coloration of the body varies from gray to brownish-reddish. The wings have a... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Italian Locust sighting in Fertő-Hanság National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 44th most-seen of the 243 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Italian Locust in Fertő-Hanság National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to May, the lowest months. That is one of Fertő-Hanság National Park's wettest months, with about 80 mm of rain against 30 mm in March.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Italian Locust sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Italian Locust sightings, Fertő-Hanság National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 20%).
Same family: Acrididae
The closest relatives of the Italian Locust that you can see in Fertő-Hanság National Park (family Acrididae, Short-horned Grasshoppers) are Meadow Grasshopper (about 10%), Blue-Winged Grasshopper (about 10%) and Mediterranean Slant-Faced Grasshopper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Italian Locust is recorded against all the insects logged in Fertő-Hanság National Park (19 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
