A Laboratory Study of Oviposition Site Preferences in the Lubber Grasshopper, Romalea guttata (Houttuyn)

Reproductive Responses to Photoperiod by a South Florida Population of the GrasshopperRomalea microptera(Orthoptera: Romaleidae)

“…At age 28 d, each animal was placed in a 1-liter plastic container with moist sand for at least 1 h each day. Romalea microptera readily oviposits under these conditions (Stauffer et al 1998). This procedure was repeated daily until each grasshopper oviposited.…”

“…guttata Houttuyn), is found in the southeastern United States. This species is univoltine, deposits multiple clutches per year (usually about three), and overwinters only as eggs (Stauffer et al 1998). The timing of reproductive development and number of eggs per clutch is plastic in response to food availability (Moehrlin andJuliano 1998, Hatle et al 2000) and temperature (A.…”

Lubber grasshoppers, Romalea microptera (Beauvois), orient to plant odors in a wind tunnel

“…In conclusion, our results reaffirm the idea that grasshoppers use not only visual, acoustic, thermal, gustatory, and tactile senses to monitor and orient to the environment, but also olfaction. The growing evidence of orientation to food odors by grasshoppers parallels an increasing awareness of the importance of intraspecific odor communication (pheromones) for both gregarious and solitary grasshoppers (Whitman 1990, Heifetz et al1996, Pener & Yerushalmi 1998, Stauffer et al 1998, Niassy et al1999, Despland 2001, Njagi & Torto 2002, suggesting that olfaction is more important to grasshoppers than previously realized.…”

Analysis of body size and fecundity in a grasshopper

“…In some grasshoppers, fecundity is influenced by number of matings (Walker et al 1999), and in others, larger individuals mate more (Cueva del Castillo & Núñez-Farfán 2002, Cueva del Castillo 2003, or females prefer large males (Kosal & Niedzlek-Feaver 1997). An additional confounding factor is that time to lay in some species is influenced by environment-induced reproductive diapause (see Uvarov 1977, Weissman & French, 1980, Weissman 1979, Lightfoot & Weissman 1991 or social factors (Stauffer & Whitman 1997, Stauffer et al 1998. To begin to understand intraspecific variation in fecundity as it relates to body size and mass, it is probably best to start with one population, with individuals raised under identical and optimal conditions.…”