DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF IMMATURE OEDIPODINAE (ACRIDIDAE: ORTHOPTERA)

Abstract

The Oedipodinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Oedipodinae) of commonly known as grass hopper of Pakistan stands as a major pest in agriculture due to its occurrence and diversity in different habitats. During present study about 4334 specimens of Oedipodinae comprised 3141 instars and 1193 adults procured in collections from different districts of Hyderabad division. About 9 genera i.e., Oedaleus (Fieber, 1853) with 26.30%, Acrotylus (Fieber, 1853) with 17.51% and Sphingonotus (Perroud, 1855), 17.07%, found while lowest ratio i-e 0.57, 1.77, 5.28, 9.73, 10.26 and 11.46% was reported for Locusta (Fieb), Mioscritus (Saussure, 1884), Gastrimargus (Saussure, 1884), Hilethera (Uvarov), Scintharista and Aiolopus (Fiber) respectively. Species diversity was noted significantly highest i-e 16.54%, 12.15%, 11.65% and 9.73% in Oedaleusrosescens, S. rubescensrubescens, Acrotylushumbertianus and Hiletheraaelopoides respectively, while lower ratios were noted in S. sindhensis and Locustamigratoriai.e 0.34% and 0.57% respectively. Beside this, other notable collected species are A. longipessubfasciatus, Aiolopusthalassinusthalassinus, A. thalassinustamulus, Gastrimargus African aussulphurus, O. sengalensis, S. notabilispallipes, Mioscrituswagnerirogenhoferi, Sphingonotussavignyi, A. longipeslongipes and S. akbari that have been found with richdiversity in same area.