food biology, bryophagy, bryophyte, groundhopper, Tetrix ceperoi, Tetrigidae, Orthoptera

Tetrigidae (Orthoptera) are known to feed on algae, lichens, mosses, small plants and detritus, but there are published only a few specific data about their food biology. We carried out a preliminary analysis of the food composition of species Tetrix ceperoi (Bolivar, 1887) by the dissection of the gut contents. At least four mosses species have been found to be a component of the diet of T. ceperoi: Bryum argenteum, B. caespiticum, Ceratodon purpureus, Barbula sp. (B. convoluta or/and B. unguiculata).