How did the acoustic communication evolve and diversify and in what context? All of these questions will provide fertile ground for future work on the evolutionary ecology of this group. Given the rapid diversification driven by sexual selection on their songs, we can wonder what the next newly-evolved group of Orthopterans will look and sound like, and how its behavior and its morphology will differ from its relatives — and why?
John P. Roche is a science writer and author with a PhD and a postdoctoral fellowship in the biological sciences. He has served as editor-in-chief of university research periodicals at Indiana University and Boston College, has published more than articles, and has written and taught extensively about science and science writing. Enter your email address to subscribe to Entomology Today.
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Both locusts and grasshoppers feed on mainly grasses, but many other plants are also eaten. Both are eaten by a wide variety of animals and parasitised by mites, worms and other insects such as the wasps of the genus Scelio, which parasitise the eggs. In some parts of the world locusts are eaten by people. Mole Crickets Family Gryllotalpidae are common in well-watered urban parks and gardens.
Using their large forelegs, male mole crickets dig specially constructed burrows which act as amplifying 'horns'. These flightless males can be heard at dusk during the warmer months making a very loud, continuous call using their modified wings.
The calls help the flying females locate the males for mating. Mole crickets are the only crickets where the females can also call but not as loudly as the males. Sand Gropers Family Cylindrachetidae are large burrowing orthopterans, mostly found in Western Australia. One species is an occasional pest of wheat crops. Both sexes are wingless and rarely emerge above ground.
The Dingo or Cooloola Monsters Family Cooloolidae are an endemic Australian family found in the sandy coastal parts of Queensland the first specimens were found around Cooloola. They are burrowing insects that cannot fly. They have been called 'monsters' because of their large robust bodies and strongly clawed forelegs.
Only three species have been described so far, as they are rarely found. While there are about 10, species of grasshoppers in the world today, only about 20 of those are also considered locusts. And no, cicadas are not locusts despite what some regional dialects might have you believe. Locusts are a special group of grasshoppers that when conditions are right have the ability to create massive swarms.
When locust populations are booming in numbers, they end up rubbing up against each other and their brains produce an abundance of the happy chemical, serotonin. This increase in crowding conditions plus floods of serotonin leads to the grasshoppers breeding more.
Their young will not only act differently , but also be built differently as well. Grasshoppers born as locusts will mature faster, have larger brains, higher endurance, and often will be very brightly colored. As the populations grow, the locusts are forced to start to travel to find food with some species travelling as much as miles in a day. There have been historical plagues such as the plague that swept across the Great Plains in the United States but more recent plagues are still in effect.
Amid the global pandemic millions and millions of grasshoppers swept across Africa, decimating the food sources that so many people rely on. The locust plague was made worse by the interruption of supply chains leaving people without the tools to combat the intruders.
While locust swarms are common across Africa and the world , the recent numbers are worse than ever. Many scientists believe that climate change plays a large role in the increase in swarm numbers. As droughts push the grasshoppers together they then explode in numbers under this crowding and swarm across the landscape.
Some startup organizations are combating these swarms by turning them into animal feed.
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