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

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

species found in the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

region. Although not called a

locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...

in English, this species shows

gregarious behaviour Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

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, shell, germ or rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a covering". In a transferred, or ...

. Antennae are longer than the head and

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

together. The pronotum is

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

, 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,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBenin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

. It has also been recorded as a

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

pest in India. A

biological pesticide A Biopesticide is a biological substance or organism that damages, kills, or repels organisms seens as pests. Biological pest management intervention involves predatory, parasitic, or chemical relationships. They are obtained from organisms inclu ...

product called 'Green Muscle' is based on the

entomopathogenic fungus An entomopathogenic fungus is a fungus that can kill or seriously disable insects. Typical life cycle These fungi usually attach to the external body surface of insects in the form of microscopic spores (usually asexual, mitosporic spores also ...

(''

Metarhizium acridum ''Metarhizium acridum'' is the new name given to a group of fungal isolates that are known to be virulent and specific to the Acrididea (grasshoppers). Previously, this species has had variety status in ''Metarhizium anisopliae'' (var. ''acridu ...

'') 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 sou ...

). Early demonstrations of efficacy took place in northern

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

, with field tests by the

LUBILOSA LUBILOSA was the name of a research programme that aimed at developing a biological alternative to the chemical control of locusts. This name is an acronym of the French title of the programme: Lutte Biologique contre les Locustes et les Sauter ...

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 River, Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000. They spe ...

of Mopti Region,

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