Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-04T21:23:16.320Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Notes on East African Bush Locusts with special Reference to Phymateus aegrotus (Gerstaecker 1869) (Orth., Acrid., Pyrgomorphinae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

D. Keith McE. Kevan
D. Keith McE. Kevan
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, School of Agriculture, University of Nottingham; late Entomologist, Department of Agriculture, Kenya.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The term “Bush Locust” is defined.

The synonymy and known distribution of Phymateus aegrotus are given and previously published records of its occurrence are reviewed.

The occurrence of hopper-bands, and of adults, in East Africa for the years 1938–47, inclusive, is outlined.

P. aegrotus and other species of the genus are normally unimportant economically as adults, but the hoppers form bands after the manner of, though on a much smaller scale than, true locusts. Outbreaks of these hopper-bands appear to be sporadic but they are sometimes destructive to crops.

P. aegrotus has usually been of only local importance as an agricultural pest but areas in which the crops have been damaged are noted. Among wild host-plants there appears to be a preference for Euphorbiaceae although the hoppers are more or less polyphagous.

Other East African species which form hopper-bands and which are known to attack crops are mentioned.

The life-history of P. aegrotus is described so far as it is known, and observations made by Dr. H. B. N. Hynes on the closely related species, P. pulcherrimus, in Ethiopia are also recorded.

Reflex actions in Phymateus species, including such phenomena as autohaemorrhage and colour display by the adults when alarmed, are noted and the literature on the subject is reviewed.

Observations are made on hopper behaviour and band-size of P. aegrotus. The latter is usually only a square yard or two in extent but bands up to 25 square yards in area have been observed by the author and there are reports of even larger ones. These bands are very dense both when marching and when stationary (60–80 finalinstar hoppers per square foot). Notes on areas of infestation are also given.

In most cases it is sufficient to beat out the bands with branches. Poison bait and dusting with 7 per cent, di-nitro-ortho-cresol are also successful.

Detailed descriptions of the coloration of final-instar hoppers of P. aegrotus and the other East African Phymateus species discussed are given. Keys for the identification of these hoppers and of the adults of the four species, P. aegrotus (Gerst.), P. pulcherrimus I. Bol., P. viridipes Stål and P. purpurascens Karsch (for all of which standardised English names are proposed), are also included.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , December 1949 , pp. 359 - 369
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1949

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bishop, H. J. (1940). The Bush Locust (Phymateus leprosus) in the Eastern Cape Province.—Bull. Dep. Agric. For. S. Afr., no. 208, 8 pp., 2 pls.Google Scholar
Bolívar y Urrutia, I. (1884). Monografía de los Pirgomorfinos.—An. Soc. esp. Hist. nat., 13, 151 pp., 4 pls.Google Scholar
Bolívar y Urrutia, I. (1909). Acridiidae. Subfam. Pyrgomorphinae.—Genera Insect., fasc. 90, 58 pp., 1 pl.Google Scholar
Carpenter, G. D. H. (1946). The relative edibility and behaviour of some aposematic grasshoppers.—Ent. mon. Mag., 82, pp. 5–10.Google Scholar
Chopard, L. (1921). Orthoptères.—Voy. Babault Afr. or. angl., 64 pp., 2 pls. Paris.Google Scholar
Coleman, L. C. (1911). The Jola or Deccan Grasshopper (Colemania sphenaroides, Bol.).—Bull. Dep. Agric. Mysore (Ent. Ser.) no. 2, 43 pp., 10 pls.Google Scholar
Coleman, L. C. & Kunhi Kannan, K. (1911). The Rice Grasshopper (Hieroglyphus banian, F.).—Bull. Dep. Agric. Mysore (Ent. Ser.), no. 1, 52 pp., 5 pls.Google Scholar
Dogiel, V. & Sokolov, I. (1916). Sci. Res. zool. Exped. Br. E. Afr. & Uganda, 1914. [In Russian, with English summary.] Vol. 1, no. 1, 91 pp.Google Scholar
Gerstaecker, A. (1869). Beitrag zur Insektenfauna von Zanzibar. No. 11. Orthoptera et Neuroptera.—Arch. Naturgesch., 35, pp. 201–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerstaecker, A. (1873). Insekten, Arachniden, Myriapoden und Isopoden.—In Decken's Reisen Ost-Afr., Leipzig & Heidelberg, 3, pt. 2, xvi, 542 pp., 18 pls.Google Scholar
Hutson, J. C.(1926). The Spotted Locust, Aularches miliaris, L.—Yearb. Dep. Agric. Ceylon, 1926, pp. 36–44, 1 pl.Google Scholar
Jannone, G. (1945). Contributi alla conoscenza morfo-biologica e sistematica dell'Ortotterofauna dell'Eritrea. I. Caso di pervertimento sessuale notato in Eritrea tra individui dei generi Phymateus e Schistocerca (Orthop., Acrid.) e considerazioni comparate sul fenomeno in altre specie animali.—Boll. Soc. ital. Med. Ig. trop. (Sez. Eritrea), 4, pp. 625–640.Google Scholar
Kevan, D. K. McE. (1943). An account of Schistocerca flavofasciata (De Geer 1773) in Trinidad (Orthoptera: Acrididae).—Bull. ent. Res., 34, pp. 291–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kevan, D. K. McE. (1947). Colour display by Bush Locusts.—Nat. in E. Afr., Nairobi, 4, p. 6.Google Scholar
Paoli, G. (1934). Prodromo di entomologia agraria della Somalia italiana.—427 pp. Florence.Google Scholar
Pavlovskiĭ, E. N. (1916). On the anatomy of Phymateus hildebrandti Bol. (Orthoptera, Phymateidae) in connection with the peculiarities of its dermal secretion.—[In Russian, with English summary.] In Dogiel, & Sokolov, (1916). Vol. 1, no. 3, 28 pp.Google Scholar
Rehn, J. A. G. (1901). The Acrididae, Tettigonidae and Gryllidae collected by Dr. A. Donaldson Smith in Northeast Africa.—Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad., 1901, pp. 370–382.Google Scholar
Salfi, M. (1939). Orthoptera. Blattidae, Gryllidae, Phasgonuridae, Phasmidae, Acrididae.—Miss. biol. Paese Borana, Rome, 3 no. 2, pp. 243–256.Google Scholar
Schulthess-Rechberg-Schindler, A. (1895). Die von Fürst Ruspoli und Prof. Dr. C. Keller im Somalilande erbeuteten Orthopteren.—Zool. Jb., Syst., 8, pp. 67–84, 1 pl.Google Scholar
Schulthess-Rechberg-Schindler, A. (1898). Orthoptères du Pays des Somalis, recueillis par L. Robecchi-Brichetti en 1891 et par le Prince E. Ruspoli en 1892–93.—Ann. Mus. Stor. nat. Genova, (2) 19 no. 39, pp. 161–216, 1 pl.Google Scholar
Sjöstedt, Y. (1909). Orthoptera. 7. Acridiodea.—Wiss. Ergebn. schwed. zool. Exped. Kilimandjaro, 1905–06, Stockholm, 3 no. 17, pp. 149–199, 2 pls.Google Scholar
Uvarov, B. P. (1928). Locusts and Grasshoppers. A handbook for their study and control.—xiii, 352 pp., 9 pls. London.Google Scholar