Habitat use and phenology of the large insular endemic grasshopper Acrostira euphorbiae (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae)

Emergence phenology and temperature effect on the post-diapause egg development in the bush cricket Barbitistes vicetinus (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae)

The tettigoniid Barbitistes vicetinus Galvagni & Fontana was described in 1993 as an endemic and rare bush-cricket of north-east Italy. Since 2008, this species has become a pest, causing repeated outbreaks with severe defoliations in broadleaf forests and neighbouring crops. Few data are currently available on ecology and life-cycle of this species, in particular about how temperature regulates egg-diapause and hatching phenology. The present work reports a field study regarding hatching phenology of B. vicetinus, surveyed with 84 emergence traps over four consecutive years (2013-2016). Moreover, the effect of temperature on the hatching was tested in the laboratory, exposing eggs to different temperatures. Field observations showed that hatching occurred between the end of March and beginning of April. In warmer years, hatching started early in the spring and lasted longer, while in colder years, hatching started later and was concentrated in a few days. Moreover, a significant effect of both elevation and exposure on the hatching start was observed. Results obtained from laboratory suggested the ability of the species to develop in the post-final diapause in a wide range of thermal conditions. After the diapause (terminated by a prolonged common exposure to low temperature) B. vicetinus was able to hatch from 6 to 23°C although, due to prolonged post-diapause development, hatching took place progressively later at colder temperatures. To manage B. vicetinus outbreaks, forecasting the seasonal phenology of egg hatching and its duration is important for an effective pest control.

The complete mitochondrial genomes of three grasshoppers, Asiotmethis zacharjini, Filchnerella helanshanensis and Pseudotmethis rubimarginis (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae)

The complete mitogenomes of Asiotmethis zacharjini, Filchnerella helanshanensis and Pseudotmethis rubimarginis are 15,660 bp, 15,657 bp and 15,661 bp in size, respectively. All three mitogenomes contain a standard set of 13 protein - coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and an A+T-rich region in the same order as those of the other analysed caeliferan species, including the rearrangement of trnAsp and trnLys. The putative initiation codon for the cox1 gene in the three species is CCG. The long polythymine stretch (T-stretch) in the A+T-rich region of the three species is not adjacent to the trnIle but inside the stem-loop sequence in the majority strand. The mitogenomes of F. helanshanensis and P. rubimarginis have higher overall similarities. The characterization of the three mitogenomes will enrich our knowledge on the Pamphagidae mitogenome. The phylogenetic analyses indicated that within the Caelifera, Pyrgomorphoidea is a sister group to Acridoidea. The species from the Pamphagidae form a monophyletic group, as is the case for Acrididae. Furthermore, the two families cluster as sister groups, supporting the monophyly of Acridoidea. The relationships among eight acridid subfamilies were (Cyrtacanthacridinae+(Calliptaminae+(Catantopinae+(Oxyinae+(Melanopline+(Acridinae+(Oedipodinae+Gomphocerinae).