Grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididea) assemblages in forests and savanna areas in Center, West and South-west regions of Cameroon

Abstract

Forest degradation due to human activities is a major threat to the long-term persistence of many species. It affects species richness, abundance and can lead to the extinction of some species. The present work aimed at identifying the effect of environmental variations on the species richness and composition of grasshoppers in three regions Cameroon. In each region, four vegetations (forests, agroforests, fallows and crop fields) were investigated using sweep nets and pitfalls trapping for specimens’ capture from February 2016 to February 2018. From this study, 92 grasshoppers species belonging to 3 families, 13 subfamilies and 70 genera were collected. The Acrididae was the most diverse family with 77 species. The Catantopinae was the richest subfamily (22 species), while the Pterotiltus was the richest genus with 7 species. Overall, the average sample success was 92.49%. We found that the species richness was strongly influenced by the study site (region), the vegetation type, and the capture method. The dissimilarity index revealed that the grasshopper communities of West and Center region were similar to each other, like those of fallows and crop fields.  Twenty-four species of grasshopper could be reported for the first time in Cameroon. This study updates the database on the grasshopper fauna of Cameroon and brings to 238 the number of grasshopper species known in Cameroon. Key words: Grasshoppers, species richness, forests, agroforests, fallows, crop fields