BIODIVERSITY. Short-horn

Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Suborder: Superfamilies: Tetrigoidea and Acridoidea. . . Diversity – 23 species, Mariana Isl. – 10 species, CNMI - 9 species

Ecological and human significance Short-horn grasshoppers are herbivores usually living in open grassy or weedy areas. Although they have been implicated in crop damage, such as maize, severe damage usually occurs only when there is a buildup of numbers, such as that occurring sometimes with the locust (Locusta migratoria). It is unlikely that any of the grasshoppers are indigenous to the as they are dwellers of open grassland or of, at least, low-cover, open areas. It is probable that most of the islands were mostly covered by forest prior to the advent and influence of man. It does seem that Stenocatantops splendens has recently entered the Northern Marianas, as , although it is now common on , there were no records prior to the recent (2000) collected material. It is a moderately sized and unlikely to be missed by collectors. Heteropternis obscurella seems, similarly, to have recently colonised the CNMI although its presence on indicates a longer occupation period. Both species are in the University of collection but were not recorded by Kevan et al 1997 from the Marianas. Conservation There are no conservation issues recognised at present, and none can really be determined until a thorough survey of the areas has been undertaken. All remaining natural habitats need to be conserved as much as possible. Identification There are no keys for in house identification, specimens have been sent (2002) to Dr. Dan Otte, Philadelphia Acadamy of Natural Sciences, U.S.A. Identifications are awaited.. . Records of short-horn grasshoppers from CNMI indicating areas (blank spaces) from which records are required.

Bold = endemic to Mariana Islands, Underlined = indigenous to Mariana Islands, Other = introduced , x = literature record, X = specimen in CNMI collection. Agri = , Agui = , Alam = , Asun = Asuncion, Urac = or Uracas, Fara = , Gugu = , Paga = , = Rota, Sari = Sarigan, Saip = Saipan, Tini =

Species Islands Rota Agui Tini Saip Fara Anat Sari Gugu Alam Paga Agri Asun Maug Urac pullus x x X Oxya japonica japonica X X Valanga excavata x x X X X X X x Locusta migratoria manilensis x X X x X x x x Aiolopus thalassinus tamulus/ Aiolopus thalassinus dubius intergrades X X X X X X X X x x Stenocatantops splendens. X X X X Heteropternis obscurella X X X Acridid sp. X “ “ X Green species: white spot X X Green species : black spot X X X . 77 Species list

Saipan 1945 = literature record for Saipan, seen/found 1945, CNMI 2000 = in Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, housed at the Northern Marianas college collection, Saipan, collected during 2000, or CNMI 1971-2000 where the dates indicate earliest and latest years of specimens collected. n.d. = no date given in reference.

Superfamily: Tetrigoidea Family: Subfamily: sp. Guguan 1992 Paratettix pullus Bolivar Guam 1971, Saipan 1951, ?CNMI 2001, Tinian 1984, Rota 1946

Superfamily: Acridoidea Family Pyrgomorphidae {Atractomorpha psittacina psittacina (Haan) Guam 1981 }

Family: Subfamily: Oxya japonica japonica (Thunberg) Japanese Saipan 1971, Saipan CNMI 1970- 1973, Tinian 1985, CNMI 2002. {Gesonula mundata zonocera (Navas) Guam 1984 }

Subfamily: Cyrtacanthacrininae Valanga excavata (Stal) Agrihan 1949, CNMI 1991-2002 , Pagan 1940, Pagan CNMI 1999, Sarigan CNMI 2001, Saipan 1946-1951, Saipan CNMI 1970-2001, Tinian 1946-1985, CNMI 2002, Agiguan 1952, Rota 1946,2002 (in Rota collection), Guam 1985 Extra-limital: Palau CNMI 1973, Yap CNMI 1973 Locusta migratoria manilensis (Meyen). Migratory locust Pagan 1954, Saipan 1946, Saipan CNMI 1970-1980, Tinian 1946-1985, Tinian CNMI 1973-2002, Faralon de Madinilla 1984, Rota 1952, Guguan, Maug, Pagan, Uracas 1992, Anatahan 1992, CNMI 2002, Guam 1984

Green species A (white spots) Sarigan CNMI 2001, Saipan CNMI 2001, Tinian CNMI 2002 Green species B (black spots) Saipan CNMI 2001, Tinian CNMI 2002

Subfamily: {Trilophidia annulata (Thunberg) Guam 1945} Aiolopus thalassinus tamulus (Fabr.)/ Aiolopus thalassinus dubius Willemse intergrades Pagan 1951, Pagan CNMI 1971-1999, Sarigan CNMI 2001, Agrigan 1992, Agrigan CNMI 1971, Saipan 1945-1977, Saipan CNMI 1970-2000, Tinian 1945-1985, CNMI 2002, Aguiguan 1952-1962, Rota 1937-1951, CNMI 2002, Anatahan 1992, CNMI 2002, Alamagan CNMI 2000, Maug 1992, Guam 1962 Stenocatantops splendens (Thunberg) Saipan 1992, Saipan CNMI 2000 -2001; Tinian CNMI 2002, Aguiguan CNMI 2002, Anatahan 1992, CNMI 2002; Rota 2002 (in Rota collection), Guam, in University of Guam collection. Not recorded by Kevan et al 1997 from Micronesia. Heteropternis obscurella (Blanchard) Not recorded from Marianas by Ref. 1, but from Pohnpei, Yap, Palau and Chuuk. Saipan CNMI 1970-2001; Sarigan CNMI 2001 , Tinian CNMI 2002, Guam, in University of Guam collection.

Unidentified species.

Acridinae ? sp. Saipan CNMI 2001 “ “ Tinian CNMI 2002 78 (??Romaleinae) Green species (white spots) Sarigan CNMI 2001, Saipan CNMI 2001, Tinian CNMI 2002 Green species (black spots) Saipan CNMI 2001, Tinian CNMI 2002

References

Gressitt, J. Linsley. 1954. of Micronesia Introduction. In: Insects of Micronesia 1: 1 – 257 Kevan, D. Keith McE, Vernon R. Vickery and Mary-Lynn English. 1997. Acridoidea and related Orthoptera (Grasshoppers) of Micronesia. Micronesica 30(1): 127-168. Miyano, S. 1994. Insects of the Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia, collected during the expedition. Nat. Hist. Res., Special Issue No. 1: 199-215. Swezey, O.H. 1946. Orthoptera and related orders of Guam. In: Insects of Guam – II, pp 3- 8 Bulletin 189, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii. 257 pp. Gressitt, J. Linsley. 1954. Insects of Micronesia Introduction. In: Insects of Micronesia 1: 1 – 257

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