A Synopsis of Nebraska Grasshopper Distributions

Authors

Mathew L. Brust, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
William Wyatt Hoback, University of Nebraska at KearneyFollow
Robert J. Wright, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2008

Comments

Published in JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 81(3), 2008, pp. 208–255. Copyright © 2008 Kansas Entomological Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

Between 2005 and 2007, 656 new county records and eight new state records were obtained for Nebraska’s short-horned grasshoppers (Acrididae and Romaleidae). This represents an increase of 30% in the known grasshopper county records in Nebraska. Based on the large number of new distribution records, it appears that the previous distributions of Nebraska’s grasshoppers greatly underestimated the actual distributions. The new grasshopper state records were: Boopedon gracile, Chloealtis abdominalis, Encoptolophus subgracilis, Melanoplus bispinosus, Melanoplus borealis, Melanoplus punctulatus, Paratylotropidia brunneri, and Psinidia fenestralis were obtained. These new records will aid in both grasshopper monitoring for pest outbreaks and in conservation of rare and declining species which are often habitat specialists associated with prairie ecosystems.