A comparison of the grasshopper fauna (Orthoptera: Acridoidea & Eumastiacoidea) of the Uluguru Mountains and the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Abstract

The grasshopper fauna of the Uluguru Mountains and the East Usambara Mountains is compared. There is a marked relationship between habitat and similarity in species composition. The faunal similarity between sites rises with distance from the forest, evidently because the savannah species are widespread species that are recently colonising degraded areas, while forest faunas have a high level of endemism and flightlessness, indicating a long history of isolation and evolution. Flightlessness seems to be a result of a lower investment in wing and egg production and higher investment in prolonging life span, supported by a high persistence of the habitat and a high predation pressure.

Journal of East African Natural History Vol. 87 (1&2) 1998: pp. 221-232