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Category:Species

From HopperWiki
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These are the currently available species profiles on HopperWiki in various stages of completion (see highlighted page gallery and exhaustive list below). One ambitious goal of HopperWiki is to ultimately have a "home page" for every species of Orthoptera. These pages will not seek to recreate existing resources but act as both aggregators and launch pages for to make the existing resources more visible and accessible. If you have any information you would like to share or you would like to see a species profile that you don't now see please reach out.

Insects in the order Orthoptera (from the greek orthos + pteron "straight wing") are a diverse group with an evolutionary history of 300 million years. The order contains over 30,000 species of insects colloquially known as as grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, katydids, and wētā. They are found throughout the world and are especially diverse in warm areas where they can be, at times, strikingly abundant. Some species can become tremendous agricultural pests that threaten food security around the world. For example, locusts are highly migratory and capable of phase polyphenism a classic case of phenotypic plasticity where an individual can modify its phenotype in response to a changing environment.

Locusts are one of a handful of grasshopper species (roughly around 19) that can alter their morphology, physiology, and behavior as they shift from a cryptic and solitary lifestyle to a highly mobile gregarious one. This gregarious form ultimately results in the dramatic outbreaks of billions of swarming locusts migrating across borders, destroying crops, and posing a complex transboundary challenge that requires coordination across boundaries, sectors, and disciplines.

Significant locust species around the world

Significant grasshopper species in the United States and Canada

For more information on grasshoppers in the western United States visit our Rangeland Community Management Portal; a collaborative effort between ASU's Global Locust Initiative and APHIS's Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory in Arizona. This collaboration is developing an interactive resource that connects users to biological and management information for the top pest grasshopper species in the western United States. An interactive map allows quick access to the 17 western states that are managed for rangeland grasshopper threats. Summary information is provided on the ecology and grasshopper management history of this region. By combining ecological insights, historical data, and practical tools like identification guides, the portal helps communities, ranchers, and land managers in their efforts to safeguard rangeland productivity and resilience.

Full list of species

For a full list of all species profiles on HopperWiki click here.

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