Short Communication Journal of Orthoptera Research 2021, 30(1): 67-71 First observations of the Atlantic beach cricket, Pseudomogoplistes vicentae (Grylloidea: Mogoplistidae), in the Basque autonomous community, Spain LAURENT PELOZUELO! 1 UMR 5245 CNRS-UPS-INPT. Laboratoire d’ecologie fonctionnelle et environnement. Université Paul Sabatier Bat. 4R1. 118 Route de Narbonne. 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France. Corresponding author: Laurent Pelozuelo (laurent.pelozuelo@univ-tlse3.fr) Academic editor: Ming Kai Tan | Received 27 March 2020 | Accepted 26 May 2020 | Published 12 May 2021 http://zoobank.org/955929D6-867D-4307-B075-46ABAG60E946B Citation: Pelozuelo L (2021) First observations of the Atlantic beach cricket, Pseudomogoplistes vicentae (Grylloidea: Mogoplistidae), in the Basque autonomous community, Spain. Journal of Orthoptera Research 30(1): 67-71. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.30.52634 Abstract The Atlantic beach cricket Pseudomogoplistes vicentae Gorochov, 1996 (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Mogoplistidae) is among the rare Orthoptera species that live exclusively in coastal habitats. It inhabits cobble beaches from North Africa to Great Britain, with populations known in Morocco, Portugal, Spain, France, Channel Islands, Wales and England. P. vicentae was found on the Spanish continental coast for the first time in 2018, in Asturias. The discovery of three populations in the Basque autonomous community (Northern Spain) is reported here, and useful information for increasing its detection and monitoring its populations is provided. Keywords Europe, Palearctic region, scaly crickets, understudied insects, vulnerable species Introduction Beach crickets (Pseudomogoplistes spp.) live exclusively in coastal stony habitats, in a narrow band of the shoreline upon the influence of sea movements caused by tides and storms. They are ground dwelling crickets which hide below the shingles or debris of the wrack line. Closely dependents on this rare habitat and thus having small areas of occupancy, Pseudomogoplistes spe- cies are threatened by habitat alteration and destruction. Heavy storm surges, marine pollution (oil spill) and beach excavation are already known to affect local populations in Great Britain (Sutton 2015) and the coming rise of oceans due to climate change is re- peatedly cited as a major threat (Sutton 2015, Vahed 2019). Except in Great Britain and France, little is known on the precise distribu- tion of Pseudomogoplistes spp. Out of the five Pseudomogoplistes species previously described (Table 1), two are present on continental Western European coasts: Pseudomogoplistes squamiger (Fischer, 1853) on the Mediterranean beaches, and Pseudomogoplistes vicentae Gorochov, 1996 on the Atlantic beaches (Fig. 1). P. vicentae was described by Gorochov (1996) from specimens collected in Morocco and Portugal and is currently considered a vulnerable species in Europe and Great Britain (Hochkirch et al. 2016, Sutton 2017) and close to extinc- tion in France (Sardet and Defaut 2004). Its presence is reported in four localities in England and Wales—Branscombe (Devon), Mar- loes sands and Dale beaches (Pembrokeshire) and Chesil beach (Dorset) (Sutton 2017, Vahed 2019)—as well as in the Channel Islands—Sark and Guernsey (Bourgaize 2019); Northern France, including Brittany and Normandy (Bretagne vivante 2017, Stal- legher 2019); and Spain, including the Canary Islands and Astu- tias (Gorochov and Llorente 2001, Kleukers et al. 2018). However, on the continental coasts of Spain, only one population has been discovered very recently, i.e., in Asturias (Kleukers et al. 2018). Ob- servations of the Atlantic beach cricket in three locations of the Basque autonomous community, north of the Iberian Peninsula and roughly 200-250 km away from the population observed in Asturias are reported here. Useful information to improve Pseu- domogoplistes vicentae detection is also provided. Methods After an adult male Pseudomogoplistes spp. specimen was found by chance on the 13" of July 2019, trapped in an empty plastic water bottle on the beach of Agiti kala (San-Sebastian/Donostia, 43°18'27.3"N, 2°04'21.3"W, Gipuzkoa, Basque autonomous community, northern Iberian Peninsula), I conducted a survey at this site on the 3 and 4" of August. I first looked for beach crickets in an accumulation of red drift algae, but the abundance of jumping sand fleas (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae) and the absence of any cricket led me to abandon the search in this mi- cro-habitat. I then searched for crickets by looking beneath large stones that could be easily moved and digging between cobbles during the afternoon in a non-standardized way. Later, survey was performed at night between 23:00 and 01:00 using a headlamp (Ultra Rush model, Petzl). The beach crickets were searched for using two methods: (1) opportunistic searching on the surface of cobbles and rocks for ten to forty-five minutes scouting sequences, from the high water line to approximately 15 m upward and (2) using heads of cooked shrimps deposited on the top of rocks as alimentary bait. Twenty-two baits, separated by approximately JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1) 68 L. PELOZUELO Table 1. Pseudomogoplistes species, their known distribution, and conservation status according to Hochkirch et al. (2016) for Europe, Sutton (2015) for Great Britain, and Sardet and Defaut (2004) for France. Species Known distribution Conservation status P. squamiger Mediterranean coast of Albania: Karaburun peninsula (Ponel et al. 2013); LC! in Europe. Close to Fischer, 1853 Algeria: Tamenfoust (Sahnoun et al. 2010); extinction in France Croatia: Dubrovnik, Lokrum and Sipan islands (Sombke and Schlegel 2007, Puskas et al. 2018, Skejo et al. 2018); France: Frioul, Riou, Planier, and Porquerolle islands, Banyuls, Bormes-les-Mimosa, Giens, Hyéres, La Croix-Valmer, Le Pradet, Port-Vendres Ramatuelle, (Maurin 1999, Berville et al. 2012, Dusoulier 2017), Corsica island (Braud et al. 2002); Greece: Kos and Tilos islands (Sotiris 2017); Italy (Fontana et al. 2002, Baroni et al. 2013); Spain: Alicante and Castellon (Gorochov and Llorente 2001, Luccia Pomares 2002); Malta (Gauci et al. 2005); A (dubious?) mention in the Atlantic coast of Spain in Canarias islands (Bland et al. 1996). P. byzantius Black sea coast of Crimea: Cape Martyan reserve, Karadag nature reserve (Gorochov 1984, Gorochov 1995); EN! in Europe Gorochov, 1995 Mediterranean coast of Greece: Thassos island (Gorochov 1995, Willemse et al. 2018). P. turcicus Turkey: Okurcalar beach (Gorochov 1995). Unevaluated. Okurcalar Gorochoy, 1995 beaches are very unnatural today. P. vicentae Atlantic coast of Channel islands: Guernesey and Sark (Bourgaize 2019); VU! in Europe Gorochov, 1996 Morocco: Tanger (Gorochov 1996); Portugal: Algarve (Praia do Castelejo), Lisboa (Cabo Raso) (Gorochov 1996); VU in Great Britain Spain: Gran Canaria (Maspalomas) (Gorochov and Llorente 2001), Asturias (Kleukers 2018); Great Britain: Devon (Branscombe), Pembrokeshire (Marloes sands and Dale beaches), and Dorset (Chesil Beach) (Sutton 2017, Vahed 2019); Ssp. P. vicentae septentrionalis in France: Manche, Cote d’Or (Stallegher 2019); Close to extinction in A (dubious ?) mention in the Mediterranean coast of Algeria (Habibas islands) (Gorochov and Llorente 2001). France P. madeirae Madeira island (Funchal) (Gorochov and Marshall 2000) DD! in Europe Gorochov & Marshall, 2001 1 DD: Data deficient; LC: Least concern; Vu: Vulnerable; EN: Endangered species. ~100 km __—~*Urbanizacidn Gema del Mar Gorliz and Mefiakoz beaches Agiti kala y France Galicia Asturias Atlantic ocean Morocco Fig. 1. Distribution of the beach cricket species (Pseudomogoplistes spp.). A. Distribution of P. byzantius (black triangle), P. madeirae (black square), P. squamiger (white square), P. turcicus (white triangle), P. vicentae (black circle), P. vicentae septentrionalis (white circle); B. Focus on the distribution of P. vicentae in northern Spain. JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1) LB PELOZUELO 2 m, were deposited and checked thirty minutes later. Crickets were photographed with a compact digital camera (Canon Power- Shot G9 X Mark II). In respect with local environmental laws, no cricket was captured. A survey was also performed in two other sites of the Basque autonomous community, at Gorrondatxe Beach (Getxo, 43°22'54.7"N, 3°00'50.3"W) on August 6, 2019, and Menakoz Beach in Bizkaia Province (Gorliz, 43°23'43.4"N, 2°59'06.6"W) on August 12, 2019. These beaches were identified as putative fa- vorable habitats (i.e., coves or beaches with large (>30 m) cobble deposits) from Google Maps. These searches were done during the day in a non-standardized way, as in Agiti kala. Results Because of its brown body covered by numerous scales with an enlarged abdomen tip, the first specimen found in Agiti kala was identified as a male Pseudomogoplistes sp. according to the descriptions of P. vicentae and P. squamiger provided in Sardet et al. (2015). Then, based on the distribution of the different Pseu- domogoplistes species, Pseudomogoplistes vicentae Gorochov (1996) was considered the best candidate species as it is the only beach cricket species largely found on the Atlantic seashores (Fig. 1). This identification was then confirmed through the comparison of pictures of one male anal plate (Fig. 2) to the descriptions provided by Gorochov (1996) and Sardet et al. (2015): Pictures showed a “medial shallow concavity bearing group of hairs” Fig. 2. Night sights of the Atlantic beach cricket Pseudomogoplistes vicentae in Agiti kala (San-Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Basque autono- mous community). A. Young nymph; B. Intermediary nymph; C. Adult female feeding on a piece of potato chip; D. Adult male observed on the upward face of cobbles; E. Posterior view of a male abdomen showing the anal plate with a median shallow concavity. 69 (Gorochov 1996) as expected for P. vicentae and did not show any lateral tufts of dense tawny bristles that would have been expected for P. squamiger. In the current state of our knowledge of Pseudomogoplistes taxonomy, specimens found can thus be re- garded as P. vicentae. In total, more than 20 adults and 30 nymphs could be ob- served, among which six females and five males could be pho- tographed. During diurnal surveys, no crickets could be found beneath large stones, while three nymphs could be found digging into cobbles. At night, opportunistic searches led to observation of both nymphs and adults (Fig. 2) walking on cobble surface at an average rate of 10.2 individuals per hour (Table 2). Both males and females could be observed in similar proportions. Bait obser- vation also proved to be efficient for cricket detection: eight out of 22 baits (36%) attracted between one to three crickets after 30 minutes. During those nights, three individuals were found dead: two were trapped in an empty can of beer and one in a piece of plastic holding a small amount of water. On Gorrondatxe Beach, three nymphs were discovered. In Me- nakoz Beach (Fig. 3), one nymph and one adult male were found. Table 2. Observations of the Atlantic beach cricket Pseudomo- goplistes vicentae during nocturnal opportunistic search in Agiti kala, San-Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Basque autonomous community. Scouting sequence duration: duration of a continuous sequence dedicated to opportunistic scouting for crickets walking over the cobbles. Rate of encounter: total number of crickets observed dur- ing a scouting sequence divided by the duration of this scouting sequence and expressed on an hourly base. Scouting sequence Unknown Ratsior Night q F Female Male Nymphs Total encounter duration sex adult rep ‘ (indiv./h) (min) “ ‘ 45 1 0 0 3 4 533 ugus 3, 2019 25 1 2 0 1 4 9.6 10 0 1 0 0 1 6.0 August 30 0 1 0 5 6 12.0 4, 2019 30 we 1 1 3 7 14.0 August 15, 2019 30 ve 1 1 3 7 14.0 Discussion Observations of P. vicentae in three sites of the Basque autono- mous community have increased knowledge of its distribution in Europe and continental Spain. The Gorrondatxe Beach popula- tion is roughly 200-250 km away from the population observed in Asturias by Kleukers et al. (2018), while Agiti kala population is 550-600 km from the nearest northern population in France (Herbrecht 2007). The fact that P. vicentae could be found quite easily in Agiti kala, Gorrondatxe Beach, and Menakoz Beach con- firms that this species has suffered a lack of study, as suggested by Kleukers et al. (2018). Our results suggest that further observations can be expected in northern Portugal and Spain (Galicia, Canta- bria, and Basque autonomous community), and even in southern France, in the region of Pyrénées Atlantiques. The first specimens of P. vicentae found in England and France were initially regarded as accidentally introduced Mediterranean beach cricket, P. squamiger (Chopard 1951, Sutton 1999); these were only later identified as P. vicentae. Morére and Livory (1999) described the specimens from France (Carolles, Manche region, Normandy) as slightly different from P. vicentae, described by JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1) 70 Fig. 3. Habitat of the Atlantic beach cricket Pseudomogoplistes vicen- tae at A. Agiti kala, San-Sebastian and B. Menakoz Beach, Gorliz, Basque autonomous community. Gorochov (1996). Based on slight differences of the male’s anal plate and genitalia, Morére and Livory (1999) assigned French specimens to a new taxon, Pseudomogoplistes vicentae septentrionalis. Today, the French populations are considered to belong to P. vicen- tae septentrionalis, while the subspecific status of populations from other locations (England, Guernsey Islands, Canary Islands, and Asturias) is not addressed. Whether populations from the Basque autonomous community belong to the nominal subspecies P. vi- centae vicentae or to the subspecies P. vicentae septentrionalis cannot be addressed here, as no specimen was captured and the subspe- cific status of the closest population in Asturias is unknown. This situation highlights a need for a clarification of the subspecific sta- tus of these populations and other populations from Spain and England through a morphological and/or a genetic comparison with French populations. These observations also provided some behavioral informa- tion on P. vicentae. While nocturnal observations did not effi- ciently detect P. squamiger (Dusoulier 2017), they were efficient for detecting P. vicentae. This may allow the monitoring of P. vicentae populations through non-intrusive standardized obser- vations along transects. The crickets were also observed to be at- tracted to food baits, such as cooked shrimps and other types of LePELOZUEL® food abandoned on the beach (grilled sardine waste and potato chips). This may be lethal when the crickets become trapped in food packaging, such as bottles, cans, or boxes. Such trapping is, however, already used in England to monitor P. vicentae popula- tions with pit-fall traps baited with cat biscuits (Gardiner 2009, Vahed 2019). Baited pit-fall traps should be used for a detection campaign of other P. vicentae populations in putative favorable shores of the northern Iberian Peninsula and southern France. Acknowledgments I thank Antonia and Jose-Mari Iribar for hosting me and pro- viding facilities at Agiti kala. This study did not require insect le- thal capture and was run with respect to the Spanish and Basque autonomous community environmental laws. The precise loca- tion of P. vicentae observations were communicated to the ento- mological section of the local scientific society, Aranzadi. References Baroni D, Savoldelli P, Sindaco R (2013) Gli Ortotteri (Insecta: Orthop- tera) della Liguria Bollettino dei musei e degli istituti biologici dell’Universita di Genova 75: 27-29. Berville L, Bazin N, Ponel P, Pavon D, Vidal P, Durand JP, Cuchet T, Fi- quet P, Imbert M, Lambret P (2012) Données nouvelles sur la répar- tition de Pseudomogoplistes squamiger (Fischer, 1853) en Provence et en Corse (Orthoptera Mogoplistidae). L'Entomologiste 68: 69-72. Bland RG, Gangwere SK, Moralés-Martin M (1996) An Annotated List of the Orthoptera (sens. lat.) of the Canary Islands. Journal of Orthop- tera Research 5: 159-173. https://doi.org/10.2307/3503589 Bourgaize T (2019) Entomology: The Atlantic beach cricket also known as the scaly cricket. Communiqué la Société for Nature, History and Sci- ence in Guernsey 99: 13-14. Bretagne vivante (2017) Atlas de répartition provisoire des orthopteres, phasmes, mantes et forficules de Bretagne. 20 pp. Chopard L (1951) Orthoptéroides. Faune de France, 56. P. Lechevailier, Paris, 359 pp. Dusoulier F (2017) Redécouverte du Grillon maritime Pseudomogoplistes squamiger (Fischer, 1853) (Orthoptera: Mogoplistidae) sur le terri- toire du Parc national de Port-Cros (département du Var, France) et premiers éléments de recherches sur son écologie. Scientific Reports Port-Cros national. Park 31: 81-103. Fontana P, Kleukers RMJC (2002) The Orthoptera of the Adriatic coast of Italy (Insecta: Orthoptera) Biogeographia XXIII: 35-53. https://doi. org/10.21426/B6110182 Gardiner T (2009) Distribution of the scaly cricket Pseudomogoplistes vicen- tae Gorochov (Orth.: Gryllidae) in relation to public access at Chesil Beach in Dorset. The Entomologist’s Record and Journal of Variation 121: 292-295. Gauci MJ (2005) Faunistic diversity of Maltese pocket sandy and shin- gle beaches: are these of conservation value? Oceanologia 47: 219-241. Gorochov AV (1984) Zametki po faune i sistematike sverchkov (Orthop- tera, Gryllidae) Krima. Vestnik zoologii 2: 12-20. Gorochov AV (1996) A new species of Pseudomogoplistes from Morocco and Portugal (Orthoptera: Mogoplistidae). Zoosystematica Rossica 4: 292. Gorochov AV, Marshall J (2000) New data on Pseudomogoplistes from Atlantic islands (Orthoptera: Mogoplistidae). Zoosystematica Ros- sica 9: 76. Gorochov AV, Llorente V (2001) Estudio taxonémico preliminar de los Grylloidea de Espana (Insecta: Orthoptera). Graellsia 57: 95-139. https://doi.org/10.3989/graellsia.2001.v57.i2.281 Herbrecht F (2007) Découverte de Pseudomogoplistes vicentae Gorochoy, 1996 dans le département du Finistére (Orthoptera, Mogoplistidae). Invertébrés Armoricains 1: 14. JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1) L. PELOZUELO Hochkirch A, Nieto A, Garcia Criado M, Calix M, Braud Y, Buzzetti FM, Chobanov D, Odé B, Presa Asensio JJ, Willemse L, Zuna-Kratky T, Barranco Vega P, Bushell M, Clemente ME, Correas JR, Dusoulier F, Ferreira S, Fontana P, Garcia MD, Heller KG, lorgu IS, Ivkovié S, Kati V, Kleukers R, Kristin A, Lemonnier-Darcemont M, Lemos P, Massa B, Monnerat C, Papapavlou KP, Prunier E Pushkar T, Roesti C, Rutschmann F Sirin D, Skejo J, Sz6vényi G, Tzirkalli E, Vedenina V, Barat Domenech J, Barros F, Cordero Tapia PJ, Defaut B, Fartmann T, Gomboc S, Gutiérrez-Rodriguez J, HoluSa J, [lich I, Karjalainen S, Koéarek P, Korsunovskaya O, Liana A, Lopez H, Morin D, Olmo-Vidal JM, Puskas G, Savitsky V, Stalling T, Tumbrinck J (2016) European Red List of Grasshoppers, Crickets and Bush-crickets. Office of the Euro- pean Union, Luxembourg. Kleukers R, Baudewijn O, Willemse L (2018) First record of the Atlantic beach-cricket Pseudomogoplistes vicentae on the Spanish mainland. Articulata 33: 131-134. Luccia-Pomares D (2002) Revision de los Ortd6pteros (Insecta, Orthoptera) de Catalufa (Espana). Monografias de la Sociedad Entomologiga Aragonesa. Zaragoza 7: 1-232. Maurin D (1999) Orthoptéres des Pyrénées-Orientales : Liste commentée des espéces. Revue de l’Association Roussillonnaise d’Entomologie 8: 1-12. Moreére A, Livory JJ (1999) Rédécouverte et identification du grillon mari- time dans la Manche. Argiope 23: 1-8. Puskas G, Nagy B, Sz6vényiet G (2018) Faunistical data on the Croatian Orthoptera with four species newly recorded in the country. Annales de la Société entomologique de France (NS) 54: 1-20. https://doi.org /10.1080/00379271.2018.1530071 Sahnoun AM, Doumanji SE, Desutter-Grandcolas L (2010) check-list of Ensifera from Algeria (Insecta: Orthoptera) Zootaxa 2432: 1-44. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2432.1.1 7 Sardet E, Roesti C, Braud Y (2015) Orthoptéres de France, Belgique, Lux- embourg et Suisse. Biotope édition, 304 pp. Sardet E, Defaut B (2004) Les Orthoptéres menacés en France: Liste rouge nationale et listes rouges par domaines biogéographiques. Matériaux orthoptérique set entomocénotiques 9: 125-137 Skejo J, Rebrina F Szévényi G, Puskas G, Pvrtkovi¢ N (2018) The first an- notated checklist of Croatian crickets and grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Ensifera, Caelifera). Zootaxa 4533: 1-95. https://doi.org/10.11646/ zootaxa.4533.1.1 Sombke A, Schlegel M (2007) Orthoptera and Mantodea of Istria and the Croatian island Sipan. Rostocker Meeresbiologische Beitrage 18: 131-137. Sotiris A (2017) New distribution records of Orthoptera of Greece. Jour- nal of Orthoptera Research 26: 53-61. https://doi.org/10.3897/ jor.26.14541 Stallegher P (2019) Pseudomogoplistes vicentae septentrionalis. In: Sauterelles, grillons, criquets, perce-oreilles, mantes et phasmes (Orthoptera, Der- maptera, Mantodea, Phasmatodea) de Normandie. Statuts et réparti- tion. Editor Gretia Bretagne, 108-109. Sutton PG (1999) The scaly cricket in Britain: a complete history from discovery to citizenship. British Wildlife 10: 145-151. Sutton PG (2015) A review of the Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) and allied species of Great Britain. Orthoptera, Dictyoptera, Der- maptera, Phasmida. Species Status No.21. Natural England, 60 pp. Sutton PG, Beckman BC, Nelson B (2017) The current status of orthopter- oid insects in Britain and Ireland. Atropos 59: 7-35. Vahed K (2019) The life cycle of the Atlantic beach-cricket, Pseudomo- goplistes vicentae Gorochov, 1996. Journal of Insect Conservation 24: 473-485. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-019-00187-1 Willemse LPM, Kleukers R, Odé B (2018) Grasshoppers of Greece. EIS Ken- niscentrum Insecten and Naturalis Biodiversity Center. JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2021, 30(1)