Heath Grasshopper (Chorthippus vagans)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - orthopteran > Grasshopper, cricket or ally |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Chorthippus vagans |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Eversmann, 1848) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Sutton, 2015 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Listed as Near Threatened on GB Red List and all populations are in England. The species occupies a specialised early succession heathland habitat and its distribution in England has declined due to loss or degradation of this habitat. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The species' distribution in England has declined due to loss or degradation of its habitat. The known populations in England (in the Dorset Heaths and New Forest) are on protected heathland sites. The main threats to these populations are thought to be from natural succession and from fires. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Although the current populations are all on protected heathland sites, the species was formerly more widespread and has suffered a decline due to loss of habitat. There is therefore potential to reintroduce it to suitable habitat within its former range. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Conduct conservation translocations. Suitable receptor sites within the former range of the species and suitable donor populations will need to be identified.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: All sites require on going habitat management. The heathland sites on which the species is found should be managed so that they contain sufficient early successional habitat and patches of bare ground.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.