First Ever Data on the Occurrences of Acrididae (Acridoidea: Orthoptera) Grasshoppers in the North West Region of Cameroon

Abstract

This article is a pioneer checklist of Acrididae species in the North West Region of Cameroon. This study was prompted by the absence of information on Orthoptera fauna that are found in this region. From November 2016 to September 2017, grasshoppers were collected by hand picking and the help of sweep nets from fields, lawns, farms and vegetation surrounding farms in the capital towns of the seven divisions that make up the region. Seventeen (17) species were captured and identified. These included: Acrida turrita, Coryphosima stenoptera product, Gymnobothrus temporalis, Odontomelus kamerunensis, Roduniella insipida (Acridinae), Catantops melanostrictus, Catantopsilus elongatus, Oxycatantops spissus, (Catantopinae), Cyrtacanthacris aeruginosa, Ornithacris pictula (Cytacanthacridinae), Eyprepocnemis plorans (Eyprepocnemidinae), Acrotylus patruelis, Gastrimargus africanus, Heteropternis thoracica, Trilophidia conturbata, Morphacris fasciata (Oedipodinae) and Afroxyrrhepes obscuripes (Tropidopolinae). Acridinae and Oedipodinae were the most abundant subfamilies with 5 species each. The seventeen (17) species identified in this study were recorded for the first time from the North West Region of Cameroon with one of them Ornithacris pictula magnifica recorded for the first time in Cameroon.