Updated checklist and assemblages of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridomorpha) associated with various habitats, including oases of Central Sahara in Algeria

Abstract

The grasshopper communities of central Saharan ecosystems (Adrar region, Algeria) were studied at two scales: the first scale considered different biotopes in 23 localities. Random sampling with different traps from February 2016 to February 2019 made it possible to capture two families comprising 20 species, of which 13 are recorded for the first time in the region. The second scale concerned the desert oases. Monthly sampling  from March 2017 to November 2018 captured 11 species belonging to two families and four different subfamilies. A comparative study of the grasshopper community in three palm groves with two types of habitat (cultivated and uncultivated) indicated homogeneity in fauna diversity,  although their composition was very different. Phenological analysis of species in three oasis habitats revealed the presence of three groups of species: (1) a group of hygrophilic species with a reproduction period concentrated in summer, (2) xerophilic species only present during the spring and autumn, (3) a group of mesophilic species remaining present almost throughout the year and moving between the two types of habitats. Despite three years of field work with several trips and in different biotopes, we believe that the list of species presented here is not exhaustive, but only an updated list, and we consider the new data as an important resource for various future studies, especially genetic studies.

Keywords: adaptation, Adrar, biodiversity, hostile, palm groves, phenology