Endemism hot spots, core areas and disjunctions in European Orthoptera

The paper overviews the endemism hot-spots of the European Orthoptera and reveals the paleogeographic processes which have shaped the recent faunal structures of the European Orthoptera fauna. Descriptions of seven endemism centres (the southern Balkan Peninsula and western Asia Minor; the Dinaric Mountains; the Alps; the Appenines; the Carpathian Mountains and the Carpathian Basin; the Iberian Peninsula; the Caucasian Mountains) are given. Significance of these areas is not only mirrored in the richness of endemic Orthoptera species but also in the postglacial expansion processes of the European Orthoptera fauna. The aims of the study were to summarize the literature data and hypotheses of the topic, and to discuss formation and evolution of endemism centres and endemic species of European Orthoptera.