Skip to main content

Revision of modest grasshopper (Agroecotettix Bruner 1908) with 16 new species from the United States and Mexico

Dlium Revision of modest grasshopper (Agroecotettix Bruner 1908) with 16 new species from the United States and Mexico

NEWS - JoVonn Hill of Mississippi State University revised and established 16 new species of modest grasshopper (Agroecotettix Bruner 1908), a group of grasshoppers inhabiting open scrub, dry desert plains and scrub from central Texas to southeastern New Mexico, south to central Mexico.

Bruner (1908) established the genus with the description of Agroecotettix modestus based on a female collected from Ciudad Lerdo, Coahuila, Mexico. Hebard (1922) added Agroecotettix aristus aristus and Agroecotettix aristus crypsidomus from Uvalde and Marathon, Texas, USA, respectively, resulting in three taxa.

The new taxa described are Agroecotettix silverheelsi sp. nov., Agroecotettix xiphophorus sp. nov., Agroecotettix glochinos sp. nov., Agroecotettix texmex sp. nov., Agroecotettix cumbres sp. nov., Agroecotettix burtoni sp. nov., Agroecotettix moorei sp. nov., Agroecotettix chiantiensis sp. nov., Agroecotettix dorni sp. nov., Agroecotettix chisosensis sp. nov., Agroecotettix turneri sp. nov., Agroecotettix quitmanensis sp. nov., Agroecotettix vaquero sp. nov., Agroecotettix forcipatus sp. nov., Agroecotettix idic sp. nov., and Agroecotettix kahloae sp. nov.

Most are endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert, Sierra Madre Occidental and the South Texas Plains. This discovery represents a significant advance in knowledge of desert biodiversity and the ecological complexity of this unique region.

The evolution of other brachypteran groups of North American melanoplines was influenced by Pleistocene glacial cycles affecting river flows, mountain ecosystems and island or dune island isolation resulting in population cycles of contraction, isolation, divergence, expansion and secondary contact processes.

The Chihuahuan Desert stands out as a center of Agroecotettix biodiversity with 11 of the 19 species inhabiting the area, 9 of which are endemic. The vast expanse of the desert is home to a wide variety of plant and animal life, including many endemic species that are specially adapted to dry conditions.

During the Pleistocene, especially the Late Wisconsinan 27,000-11,000 years BC, it was dominated by paperback pine and juniper forests, and the Mapimian vegetation assemblage was dominated by conifer/juniper forests. The establishment of the Chihuahuan desert scrub as a dominant element is not recorded until 8,000-9,000 years BC.

The Edwards Plateau environment during the late Pleistocene (c. 20–14,000 years ago) was largely covered by dark reddish clay and open savanna with tall and short grasses. Drying conditions during the Holocene (c. 10,500–2,500 years BCE) resulted in reduced vegetation cover, leading to gradual degradation of the soil mantle and a shift to short grass and shrub communities.

The Edwards Plateau and surrounding areas, in contrast to the Chihuahuan Desert, are the breeding grounds for the most widely distributed Agroecotettix, A. aristus. This distribution suggests that the species and genus may have originated in the south and spread to their present range during more recent dry periods.

Original research

Hill JG (2024). Desert diversification: revision of Agroecotettix Bruner, 1908 (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Melanoplinae) with descriptions of sixteen new species from the United States and Mexico. ZooKeys 1218: 177-230, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1218.133703

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Dry Valleys on Antarctic continent is the driest place in the world

The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world, rainfall is very low, only stretches of sand and rocks without rivers and plants further strengthen the view of drought. However, it turns out that the place is not the driest place in the world. Dry Valleys in Antarctica, although the continent is covered in ice, but has one part that is completely dry. Although the average rainfall in most of the Sahara Desert is less than 20 millimeters per year, there are still drier places. Dry Valleys in Antarctica is much drier where the average rainfall is 0 millimeters per year and gets the title of the driest place in the world. The valleys have so low humidity that there is almost no ice. This is the largest ice free place on the Antarctic continent. The area is surrounded by mountains that block ice from flowing into the valley. Drought is also caused by strong katabalic gusts from mountain peaks where cold air blows down the hill due to gravity. The wind has speeds of up to 322 k...
Read more

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...
Read more

Tripa tiger moth (Nannoarctia tripartita)

Tripa tiger moth ( Nannoarctia tripartita ) is an animal species in the Erebidae, a moth with a forewing length of 14-18 mm, predominantly black or dark brown with white and orange hues, thick fur on the dorsal surface, long legs and antennae, living in forest scrub and agricultural land. N. tripartita in females has forewings 15-18 mm long, black or dark brown with slightly oblique transverse and few spots. The hind wings are yellow with large dark discal points and three other dots. Males have forewings 14-17 mm long, black or dark brown with transverse oblique postdiscal bands and several spots. The hind wings are yellow with brown costal margins, discal confluent points, wide ridges on the crest and angular points in the tornus. The head has a thin orange pattern and a pair of long black antennae. Long legs are black. Tripa tiger moths live in forest scrub, farmland and roadsides. More stationary by sticking to the leaf surface at the top. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropod...
Read more