For the first time, cytogenetic features of grasshoppers from Iran have been studied. In this paper we conducted a comparative cytogenetic analysis of six species from the family Pamphagidae. The species studied belong to subfamilies Thrinchinae Stål, 1876 (Eremopeza bicoloripes (Moritz, 1928), E. saussurei (Uvarov, 1918)) and Pamphaginae (Saxetania paramonovi (Dirsh, 1927), Tropidauchen escalerai Bolívar, 1912, Tropidauchen sp., and Paranothrotes citimus Mistshenko, 1951). We report information about the chromosome number and morphology, C-banding patterns, and localization of ribosomal DNA clusters and telomeric (TTAGG)n repeats. Among these species, only S. paramonovi had an ancestral Pamphagidae karyotype (2n=18+X0♂; FN=19♂). The karyotypes of the remaining species differed from the ancestral karyotypes. The karyotypes of E. bicoloripes and E. saussurei, despite having the same chromosome number (2n=18+X0♂) had certain biarmed chromosomes (FN=20♂ and FN=34♂ respectively). The karyotypes of T. escalerai and Tropidauchen sp. consisted of eight pairs of acrocentric autosomes, one submetacentric neo-X chromosome and one acrocentric neo-Y chromosome in males (2n=16+neo-X neo-Y♂). The karyotype of P. citimus consisted of seven pairs of acrocentric autosomes, submetacentric the neo-X1 and neo-Y and acrocentric the neo-X2 chromosomes (2n=14+neo-X1 neo-X2 neo-Y♂). Comparative analysis of the localization and size of C-positive regions, the position of ribosomal clusters and the telomeric DNA motif in the chromosomes of the species studied, revealed early unknown features of their karyotype evolution. The data obtained has allowed us to hypothesize that the origin and early phase of evolution of the neo-Xneo-Y♂ sex chromosome in the subfamily Pamphaginae, are linked to the Iranian highlands.

Two sympatric nuthatch species, Sitta tephronota and S. neumayer, provided the exemplar case of character displacement when the term was coined. The two species are quite similar morphologically but have diverged from one another in sympatry, presumably because of competition-driven selection favoring the partitioning of food resources. However, actual diet partitioning has never been shown. Here, we report the dietary composition of the two species by analyzing items recovered from the gastrointestinal tract. We found that S. tephronata fed predominantly on Coleopterans, Hemipterans and Orthopterans with the most important seed plants taken being Amygdalus lycioides, Ficus carica and Fabaceae, whereas, S. neumayer fed mainly on Coleopterans, Hemipterans and Lepidopteran, with A. lycioides, Fabaceae and Tritium aestivum as the most important plants taken. To determine whether the two species partition prey into different sizes, we examined two mostly abundant insect preys (Hemipterans and Coleopterans) and measured head length for Hemipterans and mandible size for Coleopterans as proxies for prey body size. We found a significant relationship between bird body size and prey size, as S. tephronata, which is larger, captured larger bugs and beetles. We also measured the ability of each species to crack seeds of different hardness, finding that S. tephronata takes larger and harder seeds than S. neumayer. Analyses of trophic niche breadth and overlap showed (1) that trophic niche breadth for S. neumayer was wider than that for S. tephronata; (2) overall trophic niche overlap was considerably high but (3) overlap in the size of the most frequently consumed insects was low, suggesting that the species may be partitioning resources by prey size. We conclude that the relative body size of consumed prey is an important axis of niche partitioning and may have driven character displacement in associated trophic traits, allowing the stable coexistence of the two species.

Mid of September 2022, near sandy bank of Neka River in the north of Iran, a cricket was collected on prickly lettuce bushes (Lactuca serriola L.) amongst wild bushes of rubus (Lactuca serriola L.) and trees of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.). Identification through morphological taxonomic keys and comparison with previously named specimens in the Hayk Mirzayans Insect Museum (HMIM) confirmed a new record. This is first report of the genus and species of cricket Arachnocephalus vestidos Costa, 1855 from Iran. This insect has been reported from west to southwest Palearctic so far. The specimen is deposited in HMIM at the Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection (IRIPP). The detailed morphological characteristics of the family, genus and species, as well as a key to identify the genera and species of scaly crickets in Iran provided. So far, three species of three genera belonging to the Mogoplistidae are reported from Iran.

This study is aimed to explore the fauna of grasshoppers and locusts (Orthoptera) within the county of Dasht-e Azadegan (Khuzestan Province), where is placed a vast plain with geographical coordinates of 47°42′ to 48°28′ E and 31°24′ to 32°57′ N. Sampling carried out since March 2015 until end of August 2016 using insect sweeping net and also light torch at eleven selected sites and continued for the duration of all seasons of each year every one month. The collecting sites were selected to cover the whole area in terms of climate, sea level, and vegetation. Referring to morphological identification keys and comparing the result with the type of material deposited at Hayk Mirzayans Insect Museum, out of 1770 specimens, four Families, 11 Subfamilies, 21 genera and 25 species enlisted. Out of which, one genus, and two species were discovered to be new to the fauna of Iran. Based on the yielded statistics, Aiolopus thalassinus is candidates as the most frequent species in the area.