Nieuwe vindplaatsen van de zadelsprinkhaan Ephippiger ephippiger op de noordelijke Veluwe (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

New records of Ephippiger ephippiger in the Netherlands (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) Ephippiger ephippiger Fiebig, 1784 is one of the most endangered Orthoptera species in The Netherlands. In recent years populations are only known from the central Dutch region Veluwe, heathlands south of the city of Nijmegen and the Brunssummerheide in the province of Limburg. In 1999 several new records from the northern part of the Veluwe became known. The species was found in older parts of the heath where some shrubs and/or large heather plants were present. The management of the heath differs between the sites. At the Oldebroekse Heide one of the largest populations of E. ephippiger in north-western Europe is present, as well as a large population of the extremely rare Gampsocleis glabra. In this site the heath is burned regularly, a heath-management which is very rare in the Netherlands nowadays. In the other two sites, heather is cut or sods are cut on a large scale. Ageing of Calluna and wild shoots are hardly tolerated. The populations of E. ephippiger at these two sites are small. E. ephippiger is known as a species which can be easily found by its song. From this research can be concluded that in larger heathlands with small populations of E. ephippiger the species is not that easy to find. The males could only be heard from approximately 25 metres. Many Dutch heaths are larger than 10.000 square metres, so good inventories take a lot of time. On larger heaths, all the parts rich in vegetation structure should be visited in good weather conditions. If this is done at the heaths of the northern Veluwe, more populations can probably be discovered.