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Food plant preferences and spatial dispersion patterns of the armoured ground cricket, Acanthoplus speiseri Brancsik (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

Keith J. Mbata
Keith J. Mbata
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Zambia, P. O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia
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Abstract

Food plant preferences and spatial dispersion patterns of the armoured ground cricket, A canthoplus speiseri Brancsik were investigated. The average numbers of the ground cricket found feeding on each food plant per transect in each of the three study areas were tested for differences at the 0.05 level of probability by Duncan's multiple range test. The variance/mean ratio was used to analyse spatial dispersion patterns. A. speiseri fed on 12 plant species from the Compositeae, Gramineae and Solanaceae families. Hyparrhenia nyassae (Rendle) Stapf., (Gramineae) and Rottboelia exaltata Linn, f., (Gramineae), were the most preferred food plants. The armoured ground cricket densities on the two food plants were insignificantly different from each other. The cultivated plants, Zea mays L., and Sorghum vulgare Pers., were fed upon opportunistically by the ground crickets. The variance/mean ratio identified aggregation in the armoured ground cricket populations in all three study areas . The significance of the findings on food plant preferences and dispersion patterns are discussed in relation to future sampling and control of A. speiseri.

Résumé

La nourriture végétale préférée et la façon de dispersion de Acanthoplus speiseri Brancsik étaient examinées. Le nombre moyen du criquet armé du sol trouvé en train de se nourrir sur chaque espéce de plante dans chaque section déterminée des trois, espèces étudies était testé pour trouver des différences au niveau de 0.05 de probabilité en utilisant la formule de rangée multiple de Duncan. La variance/proportion moyenne étalt utiliseé pour analyser les façons de dispersion. A. speiseri se nourrissait de 12 espèces de plantes appartenant aux families Compositeae, Gramineae et Solanaceae. Hypparhenia nyassae (Rendle) Stapf., (Gramineae) et Rottboelia exaltata Linn., f. (Gramineae) étalent préféreés à toutes les plantes. La différence autre les densités du criquet armé du sol sur les deux types de plantes était insignificante. Les plantes cultiveés Zea mays L., et Sorghum vulgare Pers., servirent de nourriture au criquet armé à l'occasion. L'index de dispersion, variance/proportion moyenne, indiqua une aggregation de populations du criquet dans tous les trols espèces étudiés . L'importance des résultats de la nourriture vegétale préféreé dans cette étude est traltée en relation des tests et du control futures de A. speiseri.

Keywords

Acanthoplus speiseri Brancsikarmoured ground cricketfood plant preferencesHetrodinaeOrthopteraspatial dispersion patterns
Type
Part II: Symposium on Insect Pests and Sustainable Food Production: Ecology, Biology and Bionomics
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 12 , Special Issue 5-6: Aspects of Pest Management in Relation to Agricultural Production and Environmental Conservation in Africa , December 1991 , pp. 635 - 639
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1991

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References

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