''Saga pedo'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of bush cricket, spread throughout the European part of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, and Asia as far east as China. It is a wingless bush cricket, with the body size of up to , which makes it one of the largest European insects and one of the world's largest Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and alike). Colloquially known as the predatory bush cricket, or the spiked magician (due to the "enchanting" manner in which it waves its forelimbs as it approaches its prey), it is uncommon among its kind due to its

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

lifestyle, most often preying on smaller insects, with a known tendency towards

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

as well. For this purpose, it has strong fore and mid legs, equipped with sharp spines. When these animals are hunting, they move about, catching their prey by suddenly leaping on them and grabbing them with their legs. Their prey is usually killed by biting into the throat, and eating is done at capture. ''Saga pedo'' is active at dusk and during nighttime, with activity slowly expanding through the day at the end of the season.

Life cycle

The female attains sexual maturity three to four weeks after hatching and starts laying eggs. A single egg is deposited by stabbing the long, sharp

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

into the soil at a suitable site. The female will lay from twenty five to eighty eggs. Development depends largely on the ambient temperature. At or more, the eggs start to develop immediately, the nymphs hatching after approximately 40 to 85 days (again depending on the temperature). At colder conditions, the eggs enter

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

, which is a delay in development and can result in the eggs remaining buried for up to five years (mostly two to three). After hatching, which occurs around May, the nymphs go through six or seven

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

s before attaining sexual maturity, and live for four to six months after that. ''Saga pedo'' is also uncommon in that it mostly reproduces asexually, with

parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...

. The population therefore appears to consist solely of females and there is no reliable record of a male of this species. They also have the largest number of

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

s among members of the genus ''

Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

'' - 68 - and are probably

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

Ecology and distribution

Adults are eaten by birds,

insectivore A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...

s, rodents, lizards, frogs, and toads.

Nymphs A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typ ...

are eaten by spiders, scorpions,

centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

s, and preying insects. ''Saga'' species inhabit both dry and

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are saturated for part or all of the growing season. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of wetland. Wet prairies and wet savannas are hydrologically ...

s, pastures, shrub by hillsides, gorges, and as well follow grain fields and

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s in southern Europe and western Asia from the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

across central Europe and central Asia to China. Like other ''Saga'' species, ''S. pedo'' is comfortable with adverse weather conditions, and can be found in habitats from sea level to altitudes up to about 1500 m, and occasionally higher. The southernmost known locality is

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, while the northernmost is in

Kurgan Oblast Kurgan Oblast (russian: Курга́нская о́бласть, ''Kurganskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kurgan. In June 2014, the population was estimated to be 874,100,Kurgan ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, at

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

54º30' N. Its range is vast, but the population is spread thinly, threatened by

insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to b ...

use and

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. Therefore, the species is considered vulnerable at a global scale. ''Saga pedo'' was reported as an accidental introduction from Europe into

Tompkins Township, Jackson County, Michigan Tompkins Township is a civil township of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,671 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and ...

(USA) in 1970. In all, only six specimens were found from 1970 to 1972, during August and September. None have been found since by a reliable authority, so they are considered extirpated from North America. There have been occasional unconfirmed sightings in subsequent decades, and catching of several specimens in Michigan from 2004 on were reported by a local high school teacher in the New York Biology Teachers Association's publication, however, this remains to be confirmed by a scholarly source.

References

Lemonnier-Darcemont M., Darcemont C., Heller K.-G., Dutrillaux A.-M. & Dutrillaux B., (2016) : Saginae of Europe. Edition G.E.E.M., Cannes, France. 208 pp. {{Taxonbar, from=Q517920 Tettigoniidae Insects of Asia Orthoptera of Europe Insects of the Middle East Insects of Afghanistan Insects of China Insects of Iran Insects of Pakistan Insects of Turkey Insects of Central Asia Fauna of East Asia Fauna of West Asia Insects described in 1771 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas