Orthoptera Research Articles

Plant–arthropod associations from the Siwalik forests (middle Miocene) of Darjeeling sub-Himalaya, India

Abstract Fossil leaves from the Siwalik sedimentary rocks of Darjeeling sub-Himalaya, evidence a variety of plant–insect interactions that operated during the evolution of monsoon-influenced forests from middle Miocene times. We assessed the diversity and frequency of insect herbivory on 137 specimens representing the Darjeeling lower Siwalik flora (DLSF). We also examined the percent of leaf area removed by herbivory as an independent measure of the effect of insect herbivore removal of host plant photosynthetic tissue. Five functional feeding groups (FFGs) are identified in this study namely leaf mining, hole feeding, skeletonizing, galling and margin feeding. These traces indicate that insects interacted with the plants for various purposes, including feeding, egg laying and sheltering. Furthermore, these morphotraces tend to suggest similarities in insect interactions with leaves of extant plant species such as Persea, Woodfordia, Shorea, Artocarpus, Callicarpa, Albizia, Lagerstroemia etc. On the basis of comparison with extant taxa, possible leaf feeders could have belonged to the insect orders Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera. Although the morphology of the phytophagous insects associated with the fossil leaves is unknown, present findings reveal that many modern plant–insect relationships were established by the Miocene time and continue to the present, shaping both the present day flora and fauna. In the present study we compare insect herbivory at DLSF to that of our previously investigated Arunachal lower Siwalik flora and two younger floras from that area. We note a similar range of FFGs and damage types observed among these four fossil floras and conclude that compared to biotic factors climate had little influence in determining the evolution of plant-insect interactions in the eastern Himalayan region.

Two New Species of the Genus Criotettix Bolivar (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae), with a Key to the Species of the Genus from China

Two new species of the tetrigid genus Criotettix Bolivar from China, namely Criotettix interruptaoides Deng & Zheng n. sp. and Criotettix shiwanshanensis Deng & Zheng n. sp. are described. An updated key to all known species of the genus from China is given.

Gut contents of common house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus (Schlegel, 1836) in Jahangirnagar university campus, Savar, Bangladesh

Gut contents of Common House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) collected from Jahangirnagar University campus, Savar, Dhaka were analysed. Sixteen different food items were identified of which most were insects. Insects from the order Orthoptera were the highest (32.66%) followed by the Coleopterans (18.36%), Diptera (14.28%), Hymenoptera (10.20%), Homoptera (10.20%), Lepidoptera (8.16%) and Hemiptera (6.14%). It is evident that the H. frenatus plays an important role in biological pest control consuming 39.13% insects which are harmful to crops, fruits and vegetables; 19.56% insects responsible for plant damage, 8.56% insects injurious to cotton, 6.52% garden pests, 6.52% were house hold pests, 4.32% destructive to plant seeds and roots of beans and cereals and remaining 15.21% were useful insects. Female consumed more than males.Bangladesh J. Zool. 41(2): 229-232, 2013

Phalangopsidae crickets from Tropical Africa (Orthoptera, Grylloidea), with descriptions of new taxa and an identification key for African genera.

New Phalangopsidae crickets are described from tropical Africa, including three new genera and ten new species: Afrophaloria Desutter-Grandcolas, n.gen., Afrophaloria amani Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., type species, Afrophaloria apiariensis Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., Afrophaloria hempae Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., Kameruloria gabonensis Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., Kameruloria nigricornis Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., Kameruloria trimaculata Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., Paragryllodes amani Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., Phasmagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas, n.gen., Phasmagryllus elegans Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., type species, Upupagryllus Desutter-Grandcolas, n.gen., Upupagryllus subalatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., type species, and Upupagryllus alatus Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp. All these taxa, except Paragryllodes amani Desutter-Grandcolas, n. sp., belong to the subfamily Phaloriinae. The subfamily is redefined, to take into account their morphological (apterous taxa) and ecological (straminicolous taxa) diversity. A key for phalangopsid African genera is proposed, and the status of Larandeicus Chopard, 1937 briefly discussed.

English

The Order Orthoptera includes short horned and long horned grasshoppers, crickets and grouse locusts. These insects range from sizes less than 5 mm to 115 mm. They are distributed worldwide and mainly in warmer regions and are in the temperate zone. They are found in all terrestrial habitats from subterranean burrows and caves to tree tops, and from dense forest to savanna and deserts. Most of them are phytophagus. The order Orthoptera is one of the largest having over 20,000 species worldwide with about 10% of the total world species (1,750 species) recorded from India (Hirdesh Kumar and Mohd. Kamil Usmani, 2014). The paper presents the checklist and diagnostic characters of orthoptera of Kanchipuram district along with their known distribution which includes 12 species/subspecies of belonging to 9 genera under 2 Suborder, 3 Superfamilies, 3 families and 7 subfamilies.

JENIS DAN POPULASI HAMA PADA TANAMAN STROBERI (Fragaria x ananassa Duscesne)

ABSTRACT The study aimed to: (1) know the type of pests and predator that lived during the growth and production of strawberry plants, (2) know the populations of pests associated to the strawberry plants during vegetative and generative development stages until harvest time. The methodology used was Descriptive Method. Sampling the pests associated to strawberry plants was taken by the Method of Deliberate (Purposive Sampling Method). In the vegetative stage, the plants were in 2-10 weeks after planting, and the generative stage of flowering plants until harvest time, or age 11-20 weeks after planting. The results showed that, the pests on strawberry plants growth and development in both vegetative and generative stages, i.e.: seven order were included in nine families, those were: order Orthoptera with Acrididae and Grylotalpidae families; order Coleoptera with Curculionidae and Chrysomelidae families; order Lepidoptera with Pyralidae families; order Diptera with Drosophilidae families; order Homoptera with Aphididea families; order Acari with Tetranychidae families, and order Mollusca. There were six types of pests which destroyed the leaves on the vegetative phase, i.e.: Acida turita, Locusta sp., Valanga nigricornis, Chrysocus auratus, Tetranychus sp. and Aphis sp., and a kind of destructive root, that was Gryllotalpha sp. There were 11 types of pests in the generative phase, consisted of: a) six pest species destroyed the leaf, i.e.: Acida turita, Locusta sp., Valanga nigricornis, Chrysocus auratus, Tetranychus sp., and Aphis sp.; b) two kinds of fruit pests, those were : Drosphila sp. and Filicaulis bleekeri, c) as well as a type of root pest was Gryllotalpha sp. Keywords : population type and plant pests and predators; strawberry plants

An updated checklist of Insecta: Orthoptera of Tamil Nadu with new distributional records

Tamil Nadu has totally about 384 species in the order Orthoptera belongs to the superfamily Acridoidea consists of 2 families, 14 subfamilies, 80 genera and 126 species. The superfamily Pyrgomorphoidea consists of 2 families 2 subfamilies, 13 genera and 35 species. Whereas the superfamily Tetrigoidea consists of only one family under which there are 3 subfamilies, 11 genera and 37 species. The superfamily Grylloidea consists of 8 families, 5 subfamilies, 33 genera and 121 species and lastly the superfamily Tettigonioidea consists of only one family under which 6 subfamilies, 10 genera and 65 species.

Taxonomic studies on the grasshopper fauna (Orthoptera: Acrididae) recorded from paddy fields in Uttar Pradesh, India

India has the world's largest area under rice cultivation and Uttar Pradesh is one of the chief rice producing states. During surveys of paddy fields in Uttar Pradesh, 21 species of grasshoppers representing 14 genera of Family Acrididae, belonging to 7 subfamilies, were recorded in 2010, 2011, and 2012. A maximum number of seven species represented the subfamily Oedipodinae, followed by Oxyinae with five species and one subspecies, Acridinae with three species, Hemiacridinae and Catantopinae with two species each, and Spathosterninae and Eyprepocnemidinae with one species each.

Rampant nuclear insertion of mtDNA across diverse lineages within Orthoptera (Insecta).

Nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) are non-functional fragments of mtDNA inserted into the nuclear genome. Numts are prevalent across eukaryotes and a positive correlation is known to exist between the number of numts and the genome size. Most numt surveys have relied on model organisms with fully sequenced nuclear genomes, but such analyses have limited utilities for making a generalization about the patterns of numt accumulation for any given clade. Among insects, the order Orthoptera is known to have the largest nuclear genome and it is also reported to include several species with a large number of numts. In this study, we use Orthoptera as a case study to document the diversity and abundance of numts by generating numts of three mitochondrial loci across 28 orthopteran families, representing the phylogenetic diversity of the order. We discover that numts are rampant in all lineages, but there is no discernable and consistent pattern of numt accumulation among different lineages. Likewise, we do not find any evidence that a certain mitochondrial gene is more prone to nuclear insertion than others. We also find that numt insertion must have occurred continuously and frequently throughout the diversification of Orthoptera. Although most numts are the result of recent nuclear insertion, we find evidence of very ancient numt insertion shared by highly divergent families dating back to the Jurassic period. Finally, we discuss several factors contributing to the extreme prevalence of numts in Orthoptera and highlight the importance of exploring the utility of numts in evolutionary studies.

Fossil evidence of insect folivory in the eastern Himalayan Neogene Siwalik forests

Fossil leaves from the Siwalik sedimentary rocks of Arunachal Pradesh, eastern Himalaya, evidence a variety of plant-insect interactions that operated during the evolution of monsoon-influenced forests from middle Miocene to lower Pleistocene times. Five principal categories of damage are identified in this study namely leaf mining, hole feeding, skeletonizing, galling and marginal or non-marginal feeding. These traces indicate that insects interacted with the plants for various purposes, including feeding, egg laying and sheltering. Furthermore, these morphotraces tend to suggest similarities in insect interactions with leaves of extant plant species such as Millettia cineria, Canarium bengalense, Glochidion gamblei, Callicarpa arborea, Chonemorpha macrophylla, Actinodaphne angustifolia and others. On the basis of comparison with extant taxa, possible leaf chewers could have belonged to the insect orders Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera. Although the morphology of the phytophagous insects associated with the fossil leaves is unknown, present findings reveal that many modern plant-insect relationships were established by the Miocene and continue to the present, shaping both the present day flora and fauna. The study shows an increasing tendency towards folivory (expressed in terms of percentage of leaf damage; 35% in lower Siwalik, 39% in middle Siwalik and 45% in upper Siwalik). This increase in insect activity is unconnected to measurable climate change but was due to biotic change, where there was a competition between insects and plants and insects appear increasingly successful.

Large-scale Spatial Patterns in Species Richness of Orthoptera in the Greater London Area, United Kingdom: Relationships with Land Cover

This paper explores species richness of insects of the order Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.) along spatial gradients defined using remotely sensed land cover data for an area of 5600 km2 centred on the city of London. The number of species within grid-squares of a national atlas, controlled for recording effort, declined along composite multivariate spatial gradients representing landscapes with increasing dominance of arable and urban land uses, yet was uncorrelated with the area of an individual land cover representing cultivated land, and only weakly correlated with a second land cover representing urban development. Few orthopteran species reside directly within either arable crops or non-vegetated urban land covers. Thus, whilst the areas of the individual land covers are intuitively sensible (and simple) measures of agricultural and urban cover respectively, their areas do not capture ecologically relevant information about variation in the composition of the uncultivated and non-urban land cover matrices within which the species actually reside. The results illustrate the advantages of using multivariate data reduction techniques (such as the Principle Components Analysis applied here) to describe spatial gradients in the extent of agricultural and urban influence. Relatively few landscape scale studies have focused on insects and the present study illustrates a) the potential for using Orthoptera to explore issues of biodiversity in the landscape and to monitor impacts of land use via analysis of large-scale spatial patterns from national species distribution atlases combined with remotely sensed land cover, and b) the importance of selecting appropriate measures of land use which incorporate information on the complex mix of land cover types utilised by the species under investigation.

KERAGAMAN SERANGGA PADA Oryza sativa L. DI KECAMATAN PILANGKENCENG DAN KECAMATAN KARE KABUPATEN MADIUN

<p>The research aims to identify the insects in rice plants in the district Pilangkenceng and Kare Madiun. Research method using qualitative descriptive and in accordance with what is on the field. Data were collected by observation. Insects captured in two ways: directly and using flay arrest of the net. The results showed that the insects found in rice plant in the district of Pilangkenceng order Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Odonata, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera. Insects found in the District of Kare consists of the Order Orthoptera, Odonata, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Homoptera.</p>

Fiddler on the tree--a bush-cricket species with unusual stridulatory organs and song.

Insects of the order Orthoptera are well-known for their acoustic communication. The structures used for this purpose show a high diversity which obviously relates to differences in song parameters and to the physics of sound production. Here we describe song and morphology of the sound producing organs of a tropical bush-cricket, Ectomoptera nepicauda, from East Africa. It has a very unusual calling song consisting of frequency-modulated, pure-tone sounds in the high ultrasonic range of 80 to120 kHz and produced by extremely fast wing movements. Concerning morphology, it represents the most extreme state in the degree of left-right fore-wing differentiation found among Orthoptera: the acoustic parts of the left fore-wing consist exclusively of the stridulatory file, comparable in function to the bow of a violin, while the right wing carries only the plectrum ( = string) and mirror ( = soundbox).

Entomopathogens of Amazonian stick insects and locusts are members of the Beauveria species complex (Cordyceps sensu stricto).

In the Amazon the only described species of Cordyceps sensu stricto (Hypocreales, Cordycipitaceae) that parasitize insects of Orthopterida (orders Orthoptera and Phasmida) are Cordyceps locustiphila and C. uleana. However, the type specimens for both taxa have been lost and the concepts of these species are uncertain. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the systematics of these species, collections of Cordyceps from the Amazon regions of Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana were subjected to morphological, ecological and molecular phylogenetic studies. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted on partial sequences of SSU, LSU, TEF, RPB1 and RPB2 nuclear loci. Two new species are proposed including C. diapheromeriphila, a parasite of Phasmida, and C. acridophila, a parasite of the superfamily Acridomorpha (Orthoptera), which is broadly distributed across the Amazon. For C. locustiphila a lectotypification and an epitypification are made. Cordyceps locustiphila is host specific with Colpolopha (Acridomorpha: Romaleidae), and its distribution coincides with that of its host. The phylogenetic placement of these three species was resolved with strong support in the Beauveria clade of Cordyceps s. str. (Cordycipitaceae). This relationship and the morphological similarity of their yellow stromata with known teleomorphs of the clade, suggest that the holomorphs of these species may include Beauveria or Beauveria-like anamorphs. The varying host specificity of the beauverioid Cordyceps species suggest the potential importance of identifying the natural host taxon before future consideration of strains for use in biological control of pest locusts.

Entomopathogens of Amazonian stick insects and locusts are members of the Beauveria species complex (Cordyceps sensu stricto)

In the Amazon the only described species of Cordyceps sensu stricto (Hypocreales, Cordycipitaceae) that parasitize insects of Orthopterida (orders Orthoptera and Phasmida) are Cordyceps locustiphila and C. uleana. However, the type specimens for both taxa have been lost and the concepts of these species are uncertain. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the systematics of these species, collections of Cordyceps from the Amazon regions of Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana were subjected to morphological, ecological and molecular phylogenetic studies. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted on partial sequences of SSU, LSU, TEF, RPB1 and RPB2 nuclear loci. Two new species are proposed including C. diapheromeriphila, a parasite of Phasmida, and C. acridophila, a parasite of the superfamily Acridomorpha (Orthoptera), which is broadly distributed across the Amazon. For C. locustiphila a lectotypification and an epitypification are made. Cordyceps locustiphila is host specific with Colpolopha (Acridomorpha: Romaleidae), and its distribution coincides with that of its host. The phylogenetic placement of these three species was resolved with strong support in the Beauveria clade of Cordyceps s. str. (Cordycipitaceae). This relationship and the morphological similarity of their yellow stromata with known teleomorphs of the clade, suggest that the holomorphs of these species may include Beauveria or Beauveria-like anamorphs. The varying host specificity of the beauverioid Cordyceps species suggest the potential importance of identifying the natural host taxon before future consideration of strains for use in biological control of pest locusts.

Orthopteran (insect)diversity from Haveli and Maval Tahasil of the Pune District, Maharashtra, India

In the present paper 20 species belonging to 5 superfamilies’, 5 families and 15 subfamilies and 20 genera are reported. The study was carried out between June 2011 to April 2012 in Haveli and Maval tahasil of Pune district, Maharashtra, India. The order Orthoptera is divided in to two suborder viz Caelifera and Ensifera. The suborder Caelifera includes short horned grasshopper, locust and grouse locust however, Ensifera includes longhorned grasshopper, katydids, cricket and mole cricket.

Distribución geográfica de los ortópteros (Insecta: Orthoptera) presentes en las provincias biogeográficas de Atacama y Coquimbo (Chile)

By means of reference material and literature reviews, as well as entomological surveys, we documented the taxonomic composition of the order Orthoptera within the biogeographic provinces of Atacama and Coquimbo, and identifi ed the relationships between the spatial distribution of species and the plant formations described from these provinces. We recorded the presence of 68 species, 37 genera, and 9 families. The most diverse family was Tettigoniidae, followed by Proscopiidae and Acrididae. High species richness was observed in only 4 of the 23 plant formations analyzed. The areas with the highest number of species were

Physiology of invertebrate oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptides

New findings• What is the topic of this review?This article describes the discovery and function of invertebrate oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptides.• What advances does it highlight?The novel discovery of oxytocin-like peptides in arthropods is described. An up-to date overview is gven of the functional role (physiology and behaviour) of oxytocin and vasopressin signalling. The application of natural peptides for drug development is discussed.Neuropeptides and regulatory peptide hormones control many developmental, physiological and behavioural processes in animals, including humans. The nonapeptides oxytocin and arginine vasopressin are produced and released by the pituitary gland and have actions on many organs and tissues. Receptive cells possess particular receptors to which the peptides bind as ligands, leading to activation of G-protein-coupled receptors, hence cellular responses. In humans and other mammalian species, oxytocin and vasopressin mediate a range of peripheral and central physiological functions that are important for osmoregulation, reproduction, complex social behaviours, memory and learning. The origin of the oxytocin/vasopressin signalling system is thought to date back more than 600 million years. All vertebrate oxytocin- and vasopressin-like peptides have presumably evolved from the ancestral nonapeptide vasotocin by gene duplication and today are present in vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Oxytocin- and vasopressin-like peptides have been identified in several invertebrate species, including molluscs, annelids, nematodes and arthropods. Members of this peptide family share high sequence similarity, and it is possible that they are functionally related across the entire animal kingdom. However, it is evident that not all animals express oxytocin/vasopressin neuropeptides and that there is little information available about the biology and physiology of this signalling system of invertebrates and, in particular, of insects, which represent more than half of all known living organisms. This report describes the discovery of novel oxytocin- and vasopressin-like peptides in arthropods and summarizes the status quo of the functional relevance of this neuropeptide signalling system in invertebrates, which will have beneficial implications for the design of selective and potent ligands to human oxytocin and vasopressin receptors.

Species of Phytophagous Insects Associated with Strawberries in Latvia

The aim of the present study was to describe the phytophagous insect fauna of strawberries in Latvia. This study was carried out in 2000-2004 on strawberry plantations in Tukums, Rîga, Dobele, and Limbaþi districts. Insects were collected from strawberry fields by pitfall trapping, sweep netting and leaf sampling methods. A total of 137 insect species belonging to seven orders and 41 families were identified to species. Of the phytophagous insects, the order Orthoptera was represented by one species, other orders by a larger number of species: Hymenoptera (3), Diptera (16), Lepidoptera (20), Thysanoptera (21), Hemiptera (39), and Coleoptera (37). Of the recorded insects, 48 species have a status of general strawberry pests.

MORPHOGENESIS OF THE LARVAL «FENESTRAE» DURING MOULTING IN SCHISTOCERCA GREGARIA FORSKÅL (ORTHOPTERA ACRIDIDAE)

SUMMARY Morphogenesis of the fenestrae, specialized integumentary areas in the abdominal segments of larvae and adults of Schistocerca gregaria Forskal (Orthoptera Acrididae), is preceded by a cell division. Not all the «presumptive cells» that differentiate into fenestrae cells begin this differentiation process immediately; a certain number delay it until the next ecdysis. These «peripheral presumptive cells» located on the outer edges of the areas and increasing in number per tergum in an anteroposterior direction, are largely responsible for the increase in the surface of the specialized areas from one stage to the next. The changes in the cells and the cuticle of the larval fenestrae during moulting are compared with those taking place in the cells and the cuticle of the normal integument which surrounds them. Lastly, given the remarkable similarity of the ultrastructural characteristics in the specialized areas in larvae and adults, it is concluded that these structures are almost certainly function...