Development, Survival and Reproduction of Melanoplus bilituratus (Wlk.) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Reared on Various Food Plants

Abstract

In Saskatchewan the migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus bilituratus (Wlk.), is most numerous in areas of cultivation; within these areas weedy grain fields seem to be its most favored habitat. On native grasslands where this grasshopper is less prevalent, it favors overgrazed pastures in which palatable forbs and weed species are common.The relationship of M. bilituratus to its food plants has been reported by a number of workers in various parts of Canada and the United States (Pfadt, 1949; Anderson and Wright, 1952; Smith et al., 1952; Barnes, 1955; Gangwere, 1956; Pickford, 1958; Scharff, 1961). Certain differences in food preferences and in reproductive potential of this grasshopper may be noted in these reports. Some of the differences may have occurred because bilituratus (mexicanus auth. in part) is made up of a number of sub-species and local populations (Brooks, 1958; Gurney and Brooks, 1959).