Life cycle and morphometric studies of variegated grasshopper, Zonocerus variegatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

[摘要]  Morphometric analysis of the external parts and the alimentary canal as well as the stadia time of each post embryonic developmental stage of variegated grasshopper, Zonocerus variegatus was carried out. Data collected included body weight, length of pronotum, prothoracicleg, mesothoracic leg, metathoracic leg, antenna, whole body and gut. The result of the study showed that the size of the measured parts and the body weight of the insects increased progressively during the post embryonic development. There was a strong positive relationship between the body length and body weight (0.858) on one hand and between the body weight and antenna length (0.952) on the other hand. The body weight and body length slope between 1st ? 5th instar was less than the slope between the 6th instar and adult stage. There were six nymphal stages and adult stage for the insect. The number of days spent in lower instars was less than those spent in higher instars. The nymphal periods were 7.0, 7.6, 10.0, 19.1, 20.5 and 46.9 days respectively for 1st - 6th instars. The total days spent in adult stage ranged between 101.9-127.9 days. The relevance of this information in the understanding of Z. variegatus behavior and possible control was discussed

[学科分类] 昆虫学

[关键词] Zonocerus variegatus;stadial time;morphometrics;pest control