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Mongolian locust (Oedaleus decorus)

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Oedaleus decorus
Photo by Arianne Cease
Other common names
Kreuzschrecke (De), Oedipode soufrée (Fr), Чернополосая кобылка (Ru), Handsome cross grasshopper
Taxonomic classification
Suborder:Caelifera
 
Family:Acrididae
 
Subfamily:Oedipodinae
 
Tribe:Locustini
 
Genus:Oedaleus
 
Scientific name
Oedaleus decorus (Germar, 1825)
Geography
Native countries:
 
Pest status
Known pest

The Mongolian locust (Oedaleus decorus) is a species of grasshopper that is primarily found in the steppes and grasslands of Eurasian. It is a non-model locust that is capable of forming dense swarms that damage grazing and agricultural lands.

Taxonomy

For full nomenclature and taxonomic details of this taxon, see Orthoptera Species File

synonym Oedaleus asiaticus Bey-Bienko, 1941

Bei-Bienko and Mishchenko classified asiaticus as distinct from decorus, whereas Ritchie (1981) treated it as a subspecies (Oedaleus decorus asiaticus).[1][2] Mitochondrial genome studies indicate that this species is closely related to the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria).[3]

Identification

Oedaleus decorus is a species of band-winged grasshopper (subfamily Oedipodinae, family Acrididae) and a characteristic inhabitant of semi-arid grasslands across parts of Eurasia. Like other members of its subfamily, it is readily identified by its large, lobed hindwings, typically marked with dark bands or spots that distinguish it from other grasshoppers. These hindwings are also important in behavior, as many band-winged species produce a sharp snapping sound, or crepitation, in flight, audible across open landscapes and useful for field identification.[4] While the band-winged grasshoppers form a diverse group, with many species posing no threat to agriculture, O. decorus is among those capable of causing significant crop and pasture damage during outbreaks.

Identification details

O. decorus is similar to Oedaleus senegalensis but with a rectangular posterior pronotum margin and red underside of the hind femur. The body is grey, greyish-brown, or yellowish-brown with pale brown or green markings, and the pronotum often shows a pale X-shaped pattern. Tegmina have two dark bands with many spots, and hind wings bear a distinct dark fascia separated from the margin, usually yellowish or greenish at the base with an apical spot. Hind femora are red or reddish-brown below, and hind tibiae are reddish or yellow-brown. O. decorus has historically been misidentified as O. nigrofasciatus.[5][6]

Identification resources

Distribution

The range of Oedaleus decorus spans semi-arid regions—primarily steppes, semi-deserts, and some mountainous areas—across Eurasia from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, as well as North Africa, the Canary Islands, and Madeira. It is recorded from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, Corsica, France, Spain, Portugal, the Balkans, Czechia and Slovakia, and the countries of the former Soviet Union (including Russia, Ukraine, and other successor states), Mongolia, and China.[5][6]

For more information and distribution records see [GBIF]

Biology

The life cycle of the Mongolian locust varies across its range but is generally univoltine, with eggs overwintering in diapause.[5] In Inner Mongolian ‘’O. decorus’’ is a mid-season species and lays both diapause and nondiapause eggs, with most entering diapause in autumn. [7] In the southern part of its range, particularly in North Africa, a second generation may occur, as oviposition has been recorded in July in Libya. Eggs are typically laid in light soils with sparse vegetation. Hatching takes place from late March in southern regions to June in northern and mountainous areas. The species passes through five nymphal instars, with development usually completed in 40–45 days. Adults occur in North Africa from June to January, in the Middle East from April to September, in southern Europe from May to October, in Turkmenistan from June to September, and in the eastern parts of the range—Eastern Europe, the Baltics, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and China—from July to September. During outbreaks, both nymphs and adults may actively migrate between habitats.[5][6]

Oedaleus decorus is a non-model locust[8] prone to high-density outbreaks and swarms dominated by brown morphs[9], which tend to be larger in females, have greater thoracic and hind leg investment, higher metabolic rates, and develop traits—such as larger wings and increased thoracic mass—associated with enhanced migration.[9][10]

Habitat and ecology

Mongolian locust (Oedaleus decorus) Photograph taken at the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research station in northeast China by Arianne Cease).

The Mongolian locust typically inhabits semi-arid and arid landscapes, including stony mountainsides with xerophytic vegetation and southern steppes dominated by grasses and wormwood. Its distribution can be influenced by temperature, with populations limited by warmer summer isotherms in some regions. The species shows seasonal movement between different habitat types, and eggs are generally laid in areas with sparse vegetation, often favoring damp soils with grasses.[6]

O. decorus is most abundant in Stipa-dominated landscapes, showing the highest growth and survival on this grass.[11][12][13][14][15] in [16]

Land-use change

The Mongolian locust is likely to be impacted by climate warming.[16] Warming accelerated egg and nymph development without affecting hatching, emergence, adult survival, or fecundity, and also advanced nondiapause egg development and diapause timing. [17][7]

In Inner Mongolia, heavy livestock grazing causes substantial topsoil loss and depletion of nitrogen through erosion, leading to plants with lower nitrogen content. Grazing also shifts plant communities toward greater dominance of Stipa grandis over Leymus chinensis. The Mongolian locust reaches its highest densities in these heavily grazed pastures dominated by low-nitrogen plants, showing a marked preference for low-nitrogen S. grandis from grazed fields over the same species from ungrazed plots. This preference is likely linked to the low-protein, high-carbohydrate content, which enhances the locust’s growth, survival, and migratory capacity.[18][12][19][20] in [16]

Small-scale changes in plant community composition strongly affect O. decorus feeding patterns and population dynamics, providing important guidance for monitoring their impacts under vegetation shifts caused by grazing or human activities.[13]

Pest status

Photograph taken at the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research station in northeast China by Arianne Cease.

Before the 1970s, Oedaleus decorus rarely caused agricultural damage but is now a major pest in the northern Eurasian steppe.[19][9] Northern and northeastern China are vital for livestock farming, where O. decorus and other grasshoppers compete with livestock for forage.[16]

During outbreaks, O. decorus can cause severe damage to cereals—especially wheat, barley, oats, and maize—as well as pastures and hayfields in steppe and semi-desert regions. It often severs cereal stems, consumes grains, and can also affect cotton, alfalfa, legumes, sugar beet, vegetables, grapevines, and some fruit trees. Other crops damaged may include esparto grass, Eucalyptus spp., lentil, tobacco, and tree tobacco. Wheat is most often harmed by stem cutting, though unripe heads of wheat and maize are also eaten, and leaf damage can occur in various crops.[5][6]

A major concern is the frequent overlap of outbreaks with the Italian locust, especially in the dry steppes and semi-deserts of Russia and Kazakhstan, where both species together can damage nearly the entire range of cultivated crops, pastures, and hayfields.[5]

Management

Large-scale application of chemical insecticides remains the most common method of control for the Mongolian locust. There are no population dynamics models for this species, and existing monitoring systems rely on traditional methods that do not include regular field surveys during remission periods and lack consistent assessments of local populations.[5]

No biological control trials have been conducted for O. decorus, but because its distribution in the semi-arid regions of southern Russia and Central Asia overlaps in both habitat and seasonal timing with the Italian locust, some of the approaches developed for that species may also be applicable.[5]

In the dry steppes and semi-deserts, ploughing during outbreaks can be effective in areas with dense concentrations of egg pods. In arid Central Asia, creating irrigated fields on loess piedmont plains usually lowers local O. decorus numbers. However, in varied agricultural landscapes, this can lead to a mix of infested areas, which may raise the risk of crop damage overall.[5]

Some cultural methods include using chickens as locust predators.[21]

Outbreaks

Oedaleus decorus is a non-model locust species known for forming high-density outbreaks and swarms.[16]

In 1999, an outbreak in Inner Mongolia covered six million hectares with densities of 100 individuals/m², rising to over 1,000/m² by 2002.[22]within[16]

Occasionally, O. decorus will migrate into cities, attracted by lights at night. Between 2002 and 2009, there were numerous reports of them swarming so heavily they appeared to fall like rain, covering streets and gardens.[23]

Outbreak media coverage

Organizations associated with the Mongolian locust

Organization name Acronym Website Type Focus Focus keywords Geographic purview
Global Locust Initiative GLI View University Research, Education, Information Hub Sustainable development, Ecology, Nutrition, Social science, Natural sciences, Agriculture, Agroecology, Biology, Behavior, Biological control, Climate change, Education, Sustainability science, Geometric framework, Grazing, Governance, Food security, Arts and humanities, Land use management, Landscape ecology, Locusts, Migration, Phase polyphenism, Phenotypic plasticity, Soil science United States, Senegal, Australia, China, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mali


Resources

Title Author(s) Year Geographic purview URL
IUCN European Red List of Grasshoppers, Crickets and Bush-crickets 2016 View URL
NSF Coupled Natural Human Systems Living with Locusts project summary Australian Plague Locust Commission, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Inner Mongolia Agriculture University, New South Wales Local Land Services, Directorate of Plant Protection, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Sydney 2021
CABI Green Muscle education videos Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International 2021


Specimen contributors for this species

Bionomia logo Bionomia links specimen records in GBIF to the people who collected and identified them. Each list shows the top 20 for this species. Read more…

Collected by

People who collected specimens of this species in the field.

Identified by

People who determined the taxonomic identity of specimens of this species.

References

  1. ↑ Bei-Bienko GY, Mishchenko LL (1951) Locusts and Grasshoppers of the U.S.S.R. and Adjacent Countries 2:579 Part II.
  2. ↑ Ritchie JM (1981) A taxonomic revision of the genus Oedaleus Fieber (Orthoptera: Acrididae) [Including crop pests]. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology, London.
  3. ↑ Ma C, Liu C, Yang P, Kang L (2009) The complete mitochondrial genomes of two band-winged grasshoppers, Gastrimargus marmoratus and Oedaleus asiaticus. BMC Genomics 10: 156. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-10-156
  4. ↑ Johnson DL (n.d.) Band-winged grasshoppers of the Canadian Prairies and Northern Great Plains. Environmental Health, Agriculture and Agri‑Food Canada Research Centre, Lethbridge, AB & University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada. https://hopperwiki.org/images/0/0d/Band-winged_grasshoppers_of_the_Canadian_Prairies_and_Northern_Great_Plains.pdf
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Sergeev MG (2019) Handsome cross grasshopper Oedaleus decorus (Germar, 1825) (Acrididae). In: Lecoq M, Zhang L (Eds) Encyclopedia of pest Orthoptera of the world. China Agricultural University Press, Beijing, China, pp. 165-169. https://orthsoc.org/2020/09/18/encyclopedia-of-pest-orthoptera-of-the-world-book-now-shipping-worldwide/
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 COPR (1982) The Locust and Grasshopper Agricultural Manual. London: Overseas Pest Research. pp. 481-483.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Guo K, Hao SG, Sun OJ, Kang LE (2009) Differential responses to warming and increased precipitation among three contrasting grasshopper species. Global Change Biology 15: 2539–2548. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01861.x
  8. ↑ Song H (2011) Density-dependent phase polyphenism in nonmodel locusts: a minireview. Psyche 2011: 741769. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/741769
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Jiang X, Maimaitiming, Zhang L (2003) Nocturnal migration of grasshopper (Acrididae: Oedaleus asiaticus). Acta Agrestia Sinica 1: 75–77.
  10. ↑ Cease AJ, Hao S, Kang L, Elser JJ, Harrison JF (2010) Are color or high rearing density related to migratory polyphenism in the band-winged grasshopper, Oedaleus asiaticus? Journal of Insect Physiology 56: 926–936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2010.05.020
  11. ↑ Han JG, Zhang YJ, Wang CJ, Bai WM, Wang YR, Han GD, et al. (2008) Rangeland degradation and restoration management in China. Rangeland Journal 30: 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ08009
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cease AJ, Elser JJ, Ford CF, Hao S, Kang L, Harrison JF (2012) Heavy livestock grazing promotes locust outbreaks by lowering plant nitrogen content. Science 335: 467–469. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1214433
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Huang X, McNeill M, Zhang Z (2015) Quantitative analysis of plant consumption and preference by Oedaleus asiaticus (Acrididae: Oedipodinae) in changed plant communities consisting of three grass species. Environmental Entomology 45: 163–170. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvv172
  14. ↑ Huang X, Wu H, McNeill MR, Qin X, Ma J, Tu X, et al. (2016) Quantitative analysis of diet structure by real-time PCR reveals different feeding patterns by two dominant grasshopper species. Scientific Reports 6: 32166. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep32166
  15. ↑ Huang XB, McNeill MR, Ma JC, Qin XH, Tu XB, Cao GC, et al. (2017) Biological and ecological evidences suggest Stipa krylovii (Pooideae) contributes to optimal growth performance and population distribution of the grasshopper Oedaleus asiaticus. Bulletin of Entomological Research 107: 401–409. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000748531600105X
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Le Gall M, Overson R, Cease A (2019) A global review on locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and their interactions with livestock grazing practices. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7: 263. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00263
  17. ↑ Wu T, Hao S, Sun OJ, Kang L (2012) Specificity responses of grasshoppers in temperate grasslands to diel asymmetric warming. PLoS ONE 7: e41764. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0041764
  18. ↑ Cease AJ, Harrison JF, Hao S, Niren DC, Zhang G, Kang L, et al. (2017) Nutritional imbalance suppresses migratory phenotypes of the Mongolian locust (Oedaleus asiaticus). Royal Society Open Science 4: 161039. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161039
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Kang L, Han X, Zhang Z, Sun OJ (2007) Grassland ecosystems in China: review of current knowledge and research advancement. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 362: 997–1008. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2029
  20. ↑ Wu L, He N, Wang Y, Han X (2008) Storage and dynamics of carbon and nitrogen in soil after grazing exclusion in Leymus chinensis grasslands of northern China. Journal of Environmental Quality 37: 663–668. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2007.0196
  21. ↑ Xu H, Su H, Su B, Han X, Biswas DK, Li Y (2014) Restoring the degraded grassland and improving sustainability of grassland ecosystem through chicken farming: a case study in northern China. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 186: 115–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2014.02.001
  22. ↑ Wang DC (2004) The study on the breakout and disserving of grasshopper in Sunitezuo Banner, Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolia Prataculture 16: 14–15.
  23. ↑ Zhang L, Hunter D (2017) Management of locusts and grasshoppers in China. Journal of Orthoptera Research 26: 155. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.26.20119

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