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

Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Screw tree ( Helicteres isora ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae family. It is a shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters tall. It has gray bark and alternate leaves, up to 22 cm long and 17 cm wide, oval in shape, with serrated edges and hairs. The flowers are red or white and reach a total length of 5.5 cm. The fruit is green when unripe, brown or gray when dry, twisted, spiral-shaped, and pointed at the tip. The seeds are black or brown, shiny, and diagonal, triangular, or rectangular. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Subfamily: Helicteroideae Tribe: Helictereae Genus: Helicteres Pluk. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) Species: Helicteres isora L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Helicteres baruensis var. ovata DC. in Prodr. 1: 476 (1824) Helicteres chrysocalyx Miq. ex Mast. in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 365 (1874) Helicteres corylifolia Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn in Rev. Hortus Malab....
Read more

Coromandel (Asystasia gangetica)

Coromandel ( Asystasia gangetica ) is a species of plants in Acanthaceae, perennials, vines and branching that are widely found on the edges of roads, shrubs and gardens, resistant to shade, used as fodder, especially cattle, goats and sheep, treatment, conservation of land and ornamental plants. A. gangetica has a height of 88-95 cm, rectangular-shaped stem, brownish green or purplish green, taproot and can emerge from branches. Petiole has a length of 0.5-6 cm. Ellipse-shaped leaves, unifoliate, green or dark green, arranged facing each other and do not have stipules. Leaves have a length of 8.5 cm, width 4.9 cm, area 69.42 cm3, length and width ratio is 1.8:1, heart-shaped base and taper front end, rough surface, flat edge, a main bone and 4 -6 lateral veins on each side. Coromandel produces flowers after 4 weeks to 2 months. Compound flowers, lined up on one side with a length of up to 25 cm. Flower stalks have a length of up to 3 mm. Trumpet type, white with a bottom stran...
Read more

East Indian globe thistle (Sphaeranthus indicus)

Gorakhmundi or gorakh mundi or mundi buti ka phool or mundi booti ka phool or sembung delan or East Indian globe thistle ( Sphaeranthus indicus ) is a species of plant in Asteroideae, a perennial, multi-branched, strong fragrance with erect stems, winged and toothed wings, growing wild in rice fields forming colonies, dense open rugs in the tropics. S. indicus has alternating sitting leaves, oval, narrow at the base, toothed and serrated, 1-3 cm long and green. Leaves 2-7 cm long, 1-3 wide, broad and deep wings, continuing into a large bone in the center of the leaf to a sharp tip and several lateral veins. The flower is round, grows at the tip, has a large and long stalk, is purple in color, 8-15 mm in size, consists of many tiny flowers, green or red or purple and has pale purple stamens. Head ovate-ellipsoid and 12-15 mm long. Phyllaries are white and have purple crest. Female flowers have a corolla tube 2-2.5 mm long. The bisexual flowers are 2.3-3 mm long and the hardened pa...
Read more