Polysarcus denticauda (Charpentier, 1825)

Nutrition:
The species feeds mainly on herbaceous plants.

Habitat:
Polysarcus denticauda inhabits pastures, nutrient-poor grasslands, mountain slopes and extensively mowed meadows from 300 to 2500m above sea level. The insects occur more in mesophilic areas even if I observed it on the Italian Colle di Tenda at 1900m above sea level (Maritime Alps, high air moisture) in very dry pastures.

Life cycle:
The eggs overwinter in the soil at least twice, according to literature. The adults appear from early June until well into October (rare, almost exclusively in the high altitudes).

Endangerment: strongly endangered

Endangerment factors:
In Central Europe Polysarcus denticauda is threatened by the agricultural intensification of meadows and the reduction of extensive pastures and nutrient-poor grasslands. Polysarcus denticauda can tolerate extensive succession poorly (bush encroachment!).

Remarks:
Polysarcus denticauda occurs in Germany only in a few places: western Swabian Alb, locally in the Thuringian Basin near Erfurt, border area between Bavaria and Thuringia (Grabfeldgau) and Allgäu (Grünten, W-Bavarian Alps).

Overall, Polysarcus denticauda is distributed from the Pyrenees across the French Massif Central, the Alps (more common especially in the Southwestern Alps), parts of Germany and the Italian Apennines to Southeastern Europe (Balkans to Northern Greece) and Western Asia (e.g. Anatolia).