The humpbacked grasshopper Dericorys albidula (Serville, 1838) (Orthoptera: Dericorythidae: Dericorythinae) is reported here for the first time from Southern Tunisia (Tozeur province) and northwestern Libya. Details on the ecological occurrence of D. albidula are given and compared to available data from Central Asia. A lectotype is designated for D. albidula and its type locality identified as the Sinaï desert in Egypt.
Several endemic species of Blaps occur in Tunisia, and the species Blaps nefrauensis nefrauensis has been reported in Moulares (urban zone in west-central Tunisia), where it lives and reproduces in home gardens and old buildings. The aim of this work is to study the life cycle of the darkling beetle, considering both field and laboratory rearing conditions. As a result, the beetle species has different developmental stages (egg, larva, prepupa, pupa, and adult) that last about 15 months. Each year during the same period, adults emerge (early summer) and expire (late autumn), larvae hatch (late summer) and pupate (early summer). There is only one generation per year. Females began laying eggs in late July. The eggs were ovoid, white, and about 2.7 mm in length and 1.5 mm in width. Embryogenesis took an average of nine days. The first instar larvae were at initially only 4.5 mm long and ivory white in color. A brief description of the newly egg hatched larva was provided; thus, the nerve fibers innervating the apical setae in the antennae and ligula were detected. Further light microscopic examination of the embryo before hatching from the egg pointed out that the antennal sensilla are protected during the embryogenesis stage.
Since the publication of Chopard's 1943 book, Les Orthoptéroides d'Afrique du Nord, the diversity of Orthoptera in Tunisia has not been studied or prospected except for 20 publications. Furthermore, the classification of Orthoptera has changed since 1943 due to taxonomic and phylogenetic advances. To allow a full survey of the Tunisian grasshopper fauna, it is thus necessary first to correctly survey the biological diversity of grasshoppers in Tunisia, and second to have an updated taxonomic reference in order to describe this diversity and compare it with the grasshopper faunas in the other countries of the Maghreb. In the present paper, we propose an updated checklist and a key for the identification of Tunisian grasshoppers, based primarily on field sampling in central and southwestern Tunisia, and literature data for other Tunisian areas. Each species is documented with habitus photographs, geographical distribution, and type of habitat. In total, for the prospected areas, 75 species of Caelifera belonging to five families and 43 genera are listed, while 83 species were recorded up to now for the whole Tunisia. Among these 75 species, seven are newly recorded for Tunisia, i.e., Sphodromerus
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