Tetrix tuerki Krauss, 1876

Nutrition:
Mosses, algae, substrate, dead, stranded plant parts and others.

Habitat:
Tetrix tuerki occurs almost exclusively on muddy gravel banks of Alpine rivers. There they settle moist areas (e.g. depressions) with open, fine sediment-rich substrate.

Life cycle:
Tetrix tuerki can overwinter as larvae or adult, so adults are observed all year round, with peaks in May and September.

Endangerment factors:
In Central Europe Tetrix tuerki is threatened with extinction because its habitats depend on a no longer existing flow dynamics and replacement locations as in gravel pits are only temporarily available. Especially the river engineering measures and the disappearance of free-flowing sections have made Tetrix tuerki an end. Think of the Bavarian Lech which is destroyed by many barrages. But even the smallest remnants as in the upper Isar are increasingly altered negatively by numerous factors. Hydroelectric power may indeed be climatically safe, environmentally it is not at all!

Remarks:
In Germany Tetrix tuerki is nearly extinct and still occurs almost only in the upper Isar Valley in significant remnants.

The total distribution extends across some European mountains, especially in the whole Alps and in eastern and Southeastern Europe from Poland to Greece. Tetrix tuerki was also found in the Carpathians (Ukraine) and might be more widespread in some parts of Asia as observations in Tajikistan show.