Acridid (Orthoptera) fauna of agricultural ecosystem in some southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Thirty-one species of Acridids were identified belonging to the families Acrididae (25 species) and Pyrgomorphidae (6 species) from the monocot and dicot crop fields in Madurai, Dindigul, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, and Theni of the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu. The feeding guild of the acridids recorded 9 species of grass feeder, 1 species of dicot feeder and 21 species of mixed feeder. Among the Acridids collected 18 species were recorded as core species based on their abundance from the areas surveyed and the other 13 species were designated as satellite species due to their sporadic distribution.