The African rice grasshopper, ''Hieroglyphus daganensis'' is a medium-sized

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

species found in the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

region. Although not called a

locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...

in English, this species shows gregarious behaviour and some morphological change (phase polymorphism) on crowding and may become a moderately important pest species for small-holder farmers in the region.

Description and biology

Adults

The overall colour of adult insects is usually green, with a finely dotted shiny

integument In biology, an integument is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as skin, a husk, Exoskeleton, shell, germ or Peel (fruit), rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a coverin ...

. Antennae are longer than the head and pronotum together. The pronotum is

cylindrical A cylinder () has traditionally been a Solid geometry, three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a Prism (geometry), prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may ...

, with three deep and wide sulci (grooves) crossing the dorsum.

Hoppers

Rice grasshopper nymphs in Mali, showing darkened coloration (on right) after crowding The colour of immature insects may vary depending on their phase (illustrated right) during a particularly fertile year, dense populations of ''H. daganensis'' showed a distinct blackening in certain areas of

cuticle A cuticle (), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non- homologous, differing in their origin, structu ...

Outbreaks and control

Outbreaks are frequent in

ian countries such as

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

and

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. It has also been recorded as a

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

pest in India. A biological pesticide product called 'Green Muscle' is based on the entomopathogenic fungus ('' Metarhizium acridum'') is now available (see

desert locust The desert locust (''Schistocerca gregaria'') is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and ...

). Early demonstrations of efficacy took place in northern

, with field tests by the LUBILOSA Programme on ''H. daganensis''.

Human consumption

The Northern

Dogon people The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000. They speak the Dogo ...

Mopti Region Mopti (Fula language, Fulfulde: 𞤁𞤭𞥅𞤱𞤢𞤤 𞤃𞤮𞥅𞤩𞤼𞤭𞥅, transliterated ''Diiwal Moobti'') is the fifth administrative region of Mali, covering 79,017 km2. Its capital is the city of Mopti. During the Mali War, ...

consume the species.

References

COPR (Centre for Overseas Pest Research) (1982), The Locust and Grasshopper Agricultural Manual Johnston, H.B. (1968), Annotated catalogue of African grasshoppers, The Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Suppl:448 pp. Johnston, H.B. (1956), Annotated catalogue of African grasshoppers, The Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 833 pp. Dirsh (1965), The African Genera of Acridoidea, Cambridge University Press, Antilocust Centre, London 579 pp. Krauss (1877) Orthoptera von Senegal, gesammelt von Dr. Franz Steindachner, Sitzungsberichte der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse (Abt. 1) (Sitz. öst. Akad. Wiss. Math-naturw. Kl. Abt. 1) 76(1):29-38 Mestre & Chiffaud (2006), Catalogue et atlas des acridiens d'Afrique de l'Ouest Descamps (1965) Acridoides du Mali (Deuxieme contribution). Regions de San et Sikasso (Zone soudanaise) (1 partie) et (2 partie), Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN). Série A: Sciences Naturelles (Bull. IFAN (A)) 27:922-962, 1259-1314 Davey, Descamps & Demange (1959) Notes on the Acrididae of the French Sudan with special reference to the central Niger delta (I, II), Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN). Série A: Sciences Naturelles (Bull. IFAN (A)) 21(1-2):60-112, 565-600 Descamps (1956) Insectes nuisibles au riz dans le Nord Cameroun, AgronomieTropicale (Nogent-sur-Marne) (Agron. Trop. (Nogent-sur-Marne)) 11:732-755 Kevan, D.K.M. (1956) Results from the Danish Expedition to the French Cameroons 1949-50: XV. Orthoptera: Acrididae, Bulletin de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN). Série A: Sciences Naturelles (Bull. IFAN (A)) 18(3):960-977 Popov, G.B. (1959) Some notes on injurious Acrididae (Orthoptera) in the Sudan-Chad area, Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, London (Ent. Monthly Mag.) 95:90-92 Mason, J.B. (1973) A revision of the genera Hieroglyphus Krauss, Parahieroglyphus Carl and Hieroglyphodes Uvarov (Orthoptera: Acridoidea), Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology (Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Ent.) 28(7):507-560 Southcott (1994) A new larval erythraeine mite (Acari: Erythraeidae) from West Africa, International Journal of Acarology (Int. J. Acarology) 20(2):81-85

External links

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AcridAfrica

OSF: ''Hieroglyphus daganensis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5753236 Acrididae Insects described in 1877 Edible insects Insect pests of millets