Podisma pedestris (Linnaeus, 1758)

Nutrition:
Grasses and herbs,sometimes also dead insects.

Habitat:
Podisma pedestris inhabits nutrient-poor grassland slopes, which are usually interspersed with rocks, up to about 3000m above sea level in the Alps.

Life cycle:
The eggs overwinter. Adults occur from late June until well into October. I found many dead but some living adults even on 28/10/2006 in approximately 2300m asl in the Valais. The insects tend to hide under rocks in cold periods.

Endangerment: strongly endangered

Endangerment factors:
Podisma pedestris is one of the most common species in the Central and Southern Alps, but scarce in the northern part.
The total distribution extends from Northern Spain (Pyrenees) across the Alps and Apennines to the Balkans and further from Scandinavia and eastern Europe to eastern Asia (Altai).