On the short-horned grasshopper (Orthoptera: Caelifera) fauna of northeastern Iran with some information on sweep sampling capture rates

Abstract

In order to improve the knowledge of the Caelifera species of north eastern Iran, faunistic investigations on grasshoppers of this region were carried out during 2013-2014. Collected specimens as well as deposited specimens in Insect Museum of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad were examined, in detail. Totally 19 species belonging to 17 genera, 9 subfamilies and 3 families were collected and determined. Among them Paranocarodes straubei is newly recorded for the fauna of Iran. In addition to faunistic records, differences in species diversity and captured numbers upon time of day were investigated via sweep sampling at two rangeland sites during 2013-2014. There were no significant differences among capture rates in various day hours; so standardized grasshopper sampling could be done between the hours of 8:00 and 16:00 to generate consistent estimates of rangeland grasshopper densities.