Amazing Species: La Palma Stick Grasshopper

The La Palma Stick Grasshopper, Acrostira euphorbiae, has not yet been officially evaluated for the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM, however, it is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the Spanish Red List. It was discovered and described quite recently in 1992, and it is endemic to La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.

The La Palma Stick Grasshopper is a species that feeds on only one species of plant – Euphorbia lamarckii. Due to this high dependence, its occurrence is mainly determined by the distribution of this plant. Recently, the range of the La Palma Stick Grasshopper has been reduced by 30% due to illegal logging of Euphorbia lamarckii and a wildfire in 2009. An additional threat is an increase in grazing which leads to both degradation and fragmentation of its habitat.

However, the main threat to this species is tourism with an extensive construction project (hotels and golf course) threatening large parts of the population.The main measures proposed for the conservation of the La Palma Stick Grasshopper are restoration of the logged and burned areas of its habitat, regulation of grazing intensity, and avoidance of the pressures from tourism.

Source: IUCN RedList of Threatened Species