The Effects of Vegetation Type on Oedaleus decorus asiaticus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Oviposition and Hatching Success

Abstract

Oedaleus decorus asiaticus (Bei-Bienko, 1941) has been regarded as one of the most dominant locusts in the northern grassland, the adjacent area of agriculture and animal farmland, in China. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of vegetation type on the oviposition behavior of this pest in an open field and the hatching success of the offspring in the following year. The results showed that vegetation type did have a significant effect on whether any egg pods were laid by O. d. asiaticus. Once the females laid eggs, vegetation type and cage number had a significant effect on the number of egg pods laid. The highest number of egg pods was found in the Cleistogenes squarrosa treatment, followed by Stipa krylovii and then Leymus chinensis, while the Artemisia frigida treatment contained the lowest number of egg pods. The O. d. asiaticus eggs laid in S. krylovii and C. squarrosa treatments had a significantly higher hatching success rate (over 53%) than the other two grasses (below 40%). In short, habitats with C. squarrosa and S. krylovii grasses are likely to be preferred by ovipositing females, thus population monitoring efforts of O. d. asiaticus should focus on these habitats.

The Handsome Cross Grasshopper Oedaleus decorus (Germar, 1825) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) as a Neglected Pest in the South-Eastern Part of West Siberian Plain

“…Continuation of global warming may result in further northward and north-eastward shifts of range boundaries of O. decorus and in changes of distribution and abundance of its populations, especially in the optimal parts of its population system where the species occupies normally all suitable habitats, its average abundance is relatively high and its colonies are common even during depressions [31,82]. In this context, it is important that O. decorus asiaticus has become one of most important pests in the eastern parts of the steppe life zone [22][23][24]54,83,84], and a similar possible scenario may be realized for O. decorus decorus in the south-eastern part of the West Siberian Plain in the nearest future.…”

“…During outbreaks, it can seriously damage cereals, pastures, and hayfields [13,18,19], and it may also harm cotton, alfalfa, different legumes, sugar beet, vegetables, vine, and some fruit trees [13]. In many semi-arid territories, O. decorus was and is the important pest [18][19][20][21], especially in the eastern part of its range [22][23][24]. However, in the south-eastern part of West Siberian Plain, one of the main agricultural regions of Russia and Kazakhstan, according Berezhkov [25], until the 1960s this species occurred mainly in the dry (southern) steppes, its abundance was low, and it was not considered as a pest (cf.…”

Comparison of gut bacterial communities ofOedaleus decorus asiaticus(Orthoptera: Acrididae) ingesting on different grasses

“…In particular, Oedaleus decorus asiaticu s (Orthoptera: Acrididae), a species that thrives in the relatively dry grazing areas, accounts for 50–60% of all locusts and grasshoppers found in China's natural grassland habitats, and in some areas, it can account for more than 90% of local locust and grasshopper populations (Liu & Guo, 2004). It has been regarded as the most dominant grasshopper species in the western natural grassland and adjacent areas (Gao et al., 2012; Li et al., 2021; Xu et al., 2005). Locust plagues have been a recurring problem in several regions of China since 2000 (Sun, 2018).…”

“…16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of spider mite populations for five different regions in China found high host specificity for bacterial genera Flavobacterium , Bosea , Glutamicibacter , Xanthobacter , Acinetobacter , Caulobacter , and Stenotrophomonas (Zhu et al., 2020). There have been some studies on gut bacterial community of O. d. asiaticus (Huang et al., 2017; Li et al., 2021; Wang, Bai, et al., 2020; Wang, Sun, et al., 2020).…”

Evaluation of the Toxicity of Chemical and Biogenic Insecticides to Three Outbreaking Insects in Desert Steppes of Northern China

“…It is reported to be particularly abundant in the Inner Mongolia steppe and has caused huge damage to the livestock industry and ecological environment for many years [14,15]. As the primary consumer, O. asiaticus has specific food preferences, and this extreme adaptation has dramatically reduced grassland productivity and competed with other native herbivores and farmed animals for food resources [16,17]. The other economically important insect species in farming-pastoral ecotones in arid areas, M. palpalis, has also caused great losses to the farming and crop planting industry and serious damage to steppes, impeding the development of animal husbandry [18].…”