Seasonal Occurrence of Different Grasshoppers Species (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) in Uruguay

Abstract

This paper aims at knowing the seasonal occurrence of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) in Uruguay. The populations of these native herbivores are generally in equilibrium, although population increases were recorded under certain conditions, causing significant economic loss. The population was monitored during five seasons on sites located in the departments of Florida and Durazno. The insects were categorized into young nymphs (I, II and III), older nymphs (IV and V), and adults. At each sampling time, data from the different sites were grouped to calculate the percentage of each category. Twenty-six species were collected, eight of which were abundant. Borellia bruneri (Rehn, 1906), B. pallida (Bruner, 1900, Dichroplus pratensis Bruner, 1900 and D. elongatus Giglio-Tos, 1894 proved to be univoltine. More than one generation of Baeacris pseudopunctulatus

Acridomorpha (Orthoptera) species associated with the protected wetlands of Santa Lucía, Montevideo, Uruguay

“…In the present study we observed a species richness equal to that was obtained by Lorier et al (2016) and Zerbino et al (2016) in acridomorph surveys in other grassland areas of Uruguay. We found more species than were recorded by Weiss et al (2012) in pastures in Germany (S = 13), by Pocco et al (2010, 2013 in grasslands of Argentina, but less than recorded by Kemp (1992) for rangelands in the United States and by Andersen et al (2001) in Australia (S = 40).…”

“…We found more species than were recorded by Weiss et al (2012) in pastures in Germany (S = 13), by Pocco et al (2010, 2013 in grasslands of Argentina, but less than recorded by Kemp (1992) for rangelands in the United States and by Andersen et al (2001) in Australia (S = 40). Gomphocerinae and Melanoplinae were the most abundant subfamilies of Acrididae, coinciding with other communities of Acridomorpha in grasslands of the south of South America (Cigliano and Lange 1998;Torrusio et al 2002;Pocco et al 2010;Lorier et al 2016;Zerbino et al 2016).We found common grassland species like Dicroplus elongatus, Dicroplus pratensis, Scotussa lemniscata, Laplatacris dispar, Amplytropidia austra lis, and Orphulella punctata , and others associated with wetlands and aquatic and semiaquatic areas, like Lep tysma argentina, Haroldgrantia lignosa, Metaleptea adspersa, Chromacris speciosa, and Zoniopoda iheringi (Carbonell et al 1967;COPR 1982;Bentos-Pereira and Lorier 1991).…”

“…Our study reports acridomorph biodiversity in a conservation area in Uruguay. Most information on the Acridomorpha focuses on ecological and economic impacts during outbreaks (Carbonell 1957;Joern and Gaines 1990;Bentos-Pereira and Lorier 1991;Cigliano et al 1995;Beltrame et al 2002;Lorier and Zerbino 2009;Lorier et al 2010Lorier et al , 2016Zerbino et al 2016). Therefore, comparisons of our results were made only with studies of grassland communities and population outbreaks.…”

“…Acridomorpha have been studied comprehensively in Uruguay. Their taxonomy and systematics are well known (Carbonell 2003;Carbonell et al 2018;Cigliano et al 2019), and there are numerous studies on their biology (Miguel et al 2014), ecology (Lorier et al 2016), and diversity (Silveira-Guido et al 1958;Bentos-Pereira and Lorier 1991;Lorier 1998;Bentos-Pereira 2000;Martínez 2004;Lorier 2005;Zerbino et al 2016). However, the diversity of Acridomorpha in protected areas is poorly known, particularly in wetlands.…”