Riffat Sultana

University of Sindh · Department of Zoology

Species of genus Chrotogonus (surface grasshoppers) are phytophagous and damaging to various economical important plants in their seedling stages. In order to know the biodiversity of surface grasshoppers, the detailed study has been conducted from four provinces of Pakistan. During this study, biodiversity, taxonomy, diagnosis, morphometric analys...

The sub-genus Omorgus (Afromorgus) includes 54 described species, with 8 species identified in Pakistan. These species are Omorgus (Afromorgus) frater Pittino, 2005, O. (Afromorgus) granulatus (Herbst, 1783), O. (Afromorgus) haagi (Harold, 1872), O. (Afromorgus) italicus (Reiche, 1853), O. (Afromorgus) maindroni Pittino, 2005, O. (Afromorgus) proce...

Pygmy grasshoppers are ⁓14-20 mm in length, and are recognizable by a long pronotum, that extends over the length of the abdomen. Pygmy grasshoppers usually found near water, such as ponds and steams. Occasionally found in dry habitats, woodlands, rice fields and in sandy areas with lichen. These grasshoppers especially eat roots of plants, seedlin...

Pokilocerus pictus (Fab.) is reported as the principal pest of Calotropis procera but it also damages wheat, alfalfa, papaya, citrus, castor, brinjal and cow pea on large scale. During the present study its mating strategy has been discussed in order to know any weak phase so that diagnostic of proper management could be made. Poekilocerus pictus o...

Coleoptera is the largest organismic group on the Earth comprising 400,000 species that inhabit a variety of habitats. Their hardened upper wings which are known as Elytra distinguish them from all other insect groups. Being one of the diverse habitats they are also abundant in the desert ecosystem. In these harsh conditions they had attained such...

Introduction: Anaplasma marginal is a rickettsial organism and is the causative agent in cattle anaplasmosis. This Parasite attacks the red blood cells after infection of sensitive bovine and is transmitted by ticks. Methodology: The study was aimed to detect Anaplasma marginale through PCR the prevalence of four genera (Rhipicephalus, Boophilus, H...

Schistocerca gregaria (Forskl, 1775), one of the most notorious insects in the world, significantly harms the economy and agriculture each year. It was reputedly the biggest infestation to hit Pakistan since the 1990s, destroying wheat, rice, sugarcane, cotton, and vegetable crops, and it was also the cause of the worst disaster of 2019–2020. We ha...

DNA barcode data of Acrididae is limited in global data bases from Sindh, Pakistan. Hence, the present study was aimed to collect some selected Acridid species from the Sindh and generate DNA barcode data to improve the global database sequencing. Specimens were collected from cultivated, sandy, rocky, vegetation, grassy, desert, semi desert, roads...

This study has been conducted to explore the four species of Acrididae on the basis of their morphological and molecular studies in Sindh. Surveys were conducted in 10 different districts of upper Sindh province to determine how common acrididae present in different hot plant ecosystems i.e., Dadu, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Khairpur Miras, Larka...

This study has been carried out on the immature stages of phytophagous grasshoppers so the major aim of this study is to support the taxonomists and agriculturists in order to identify the phytophagous immature stages and their nature of damage in crops. The knowledge of diversity, ecology and taxonomy of immature stages of grasshoppers is very poo...

Male crickets show intensive aggressive behavior when they encounter another male. During this study comprehensive analysis on aggressive behavior in Acheta domesticus (Linnaeus) was investigated. It was noticed that male adopted six behavioral responses i.e., pre-established dominance, antennal railing, uni-lateral and bi-lateral mandible dispersa...

In this study 09 localities of Thar Desert of Sindh have been surveyed and 1383 specimens of band-winged grasshoppers were collected. These samples were sorted out into 07 genera and 11 species. Morphological and morphometry account of each species with illustration ecology and global distribution was given. Taxonomic keys have been generated at ge...

The study was planned to estimate diversity, distribution and seasonal variations of grasshoppers in croplands of Cholistan Desert, Punjab, Pakistan. The seasonal variations were assessed by sampling 06 randomly selected sites fortnightly during 2020-2021. And following species were collected i-e Hilethera balucha, Acrotylus patruelis Sphingonotus...

Background: True cricket is the popular name for representatives of the Gryllidae family. Gryllidae insects can damage agricultural crops such as wheat, maize, cotton and grasses. The purpose of this study was to identify the most effective plants as well as economic losses in the district of Mirpurkhas. Methods: A total of 626 specimens were captu...

Grasshoppers are considered to become the most important group of Class Insecta for their contribution to variety and abundance. Many crops, including sugarcane, sandal, Pinus, tomato, gramm, groundnut, maize, jowar, millet, pearl, and rice, are considered severely pest by Truxalis eximia eximia Eichwald, 1830. Present study was carried out during...

Although Pakistan has rich biodiversity, many groups are poorly known, particularly insects. To address this gap, we employed DNA barcoding to survey its insect diversity. Specimens obtained through diverse collecting methods at 1,858 sites across Pakistan from 2010-2019 were examined for sequence variation in the 658 bp barcode region of the cytoc...

Praying mantises are beautiful creatures in the universe. At present an updated checklist of 49species of praying mantises (Mantodea) belonging to 23 genera under 11 families and 14 subfamilies have been provided from Pakistan for the first time. Hopefully, this work will prove to be a base line for future studies.

Twelve species of the family Tetrigidae were reviewed and four species, namely Hedotettix angustatus Hancock 1909, Euparatettix indicus (Bolivar 1887), Paratettix cingalensis (Walker 1871) and P. asbenensis Chopard 1950 are recorded as new country and state records. An attempt has been made to reveal the taxonomic status of Tetrigidae in Sindh by i...

Preliminary observations were carried out on the Cholistan fauna of grasshoppers. This desert (27°42ʹN and 29°45ʹN and 69°52ʹE and 75°24ʹE )is about 480 km long while its width changes from 32 – 192 km. during the present study extensive survey were carried out ( preferable at morning & Evening times) and about 932 specimens were captured from foll...

In the present experiment, sequencing of three species of mantodea belonging to the family Mantidae is conducted in iBOL (International Barcode of Life) University of Guelph, Canada. In this study cytochrome oxidase subunit I (CO1) gene data set is represented on various of Mantodea viz Mantis religiosa Linne, Archimantis latistyla Serville, Sphodr...

The Cholistan desert also locally called Rohi is located in Bahawalpur southern region in Punjab. It creates a scenario of a hot desert and is also considered the hottest and driest desert present in Pakistan. This desert is extended through the Nara as well as Thar desert of the Sindh province between 27°42ʹN and 29°45ʹN latitude and 69°52ʹE and 7...

An extensive survey was carried out in Cholistan Desert and about 932 specimens were captured from following 5 localities i-e Basti Haq Nawaz, Basti Talab, Basti Yar Muhammad, Mari Shakh Sujra, CUVAS Area and following 6 species viz: Acrida exeltata (Walker), Heteracris littoralis (Rambur), Acrotylus humbertians (Saussure), Oxya hyla hyla (Audine...

The present study was carried out from January 2018 to December 2020 to investigate the biodiversity, richness and evenness of Orthoptera from Punjab, Pakistan. The Punjab province has agriculture, sandy and rocky areas. The total 22 species of Orthoptera were recorded, 10 species belonged to suborder Ensifera and 12 species belonged to suborder Ca...

The purpose of present study was to investigate the biodiversity of Caelifera from Cholistan desert of Punjab, Pakistan. The present research work was carried out from June 2019 to December 2019. During the present study, 1683 samples were collected from Cholistan desert track (Derawar Fort, Head Fareed, Islam garh Fort and Manthar Bangla) Punjab,...

DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF IMMATURE OEDIPODINAE (ACRIDIDAE: ORTHOPTERA)

The Oedipodinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Oedipodinae) commonly known as grasshopper of Pakistan stands as a major pest in agriculture due to its occurrence and diversity in different habitats. During present study about 4334 specimens of Oedipodinae comprised 3141 instars and 1193 adults procured in collections from different districts of Hyderabad...

Environment is the predominant factor for deciding the appropriation and abundance of Orthoptera species globally. During present study, the impact of major environmental factors on abrupt occurrence of Orthoptera species was examined. Orthopterans landed on vast agricultural fields of cotton, wheat, maize, sugarcane and other standing crops in fer...

Seventeen species of the family Gryllidae were reviewed and a Modicogryllus sindhensis is described herein as new. Four species, namely Acheta hispanicus Rambur, 1838, Gryllus septentrionalis F. Walker, 1869, Callogryllus saeedi Saeed, 2000, and Miogryllus itaquiensis Orsini & Zefa, 2017 are recorded as new country and state records. Differences be...

Environment is the fundamental factor for deciding the conveyance and plenitude of locust species globally. The various body's parameters of males and females like distance between two eyes, length of head, pronotum, tegmina, wings, femur, tibia, total body length, total body length with tegmina and impact of climate on abrupt swarming of Schistoce...

Preliminary investigation was carried out in order to reared Acrida exaltata (Walker) under laboratory conditions. Target insects were reared on different diet and food consumption and utilization, growth (growth rate, average daily growth, specific growth rate and wet weight gain), survival and life span were noted. It was found significantly dif...

The recent upsurge of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål, 1775) has had an impact on East Africa and the Middle East as far as India. It has affected and slowed down many aspects of the Pakistani economy. Swarms of locusts have infested many areas and caused immense damage to all types of crops. Both farmers and economists are concern...

Ticks are important vectors of human and animal pathogens. They are considered as main vectors for transmission of rickettsial agents affecting animal and human health. The study was designed to investigate district wise pattern and detection of rickettsial agents by using molecular and conventional techniques in blood samples of infected cattle, b...

Ticks are important vectors of human and animal pathogens. They are considered as main vectors for transmission of rickettsial agents affecting animal and human health. The study was designed to investigate district wise pattern and detection of rickettsial agents by using molecular and conventional techniques in blood samples of infected cattles,...

The family Gryllidae is reviewed, resulting in the recognition of seventeen species, of which one is Modicogryllus ? described herein as new. Four species namely Acheta hispanicus Rambur, 1838, Gryllus septentrionalis F. Walker, 1869 and Callogryllus saeedi (Saeed 2000) and Miogryllus itaquiensis Orsini and Zefa, 2017 recorded as new country and st...

Cholistan has a diverse fauna and flora, but until now its orthopteran fauna is relatively unstudied. The survey was conducted during November 2018 to August 2019. We found 25 species of grasshoppers, crickets and tree crickets. Caelifera were more diverse than Ensifera with 16 and 9 species, respectively. This work is provided an extended list of...

The Tettigoniidae commonly known as katydids or bush crickets (Ensifera: Orthoptera) is reviewed, with five genera and twelve species viz: Trigonocorypha unicolor Stal 1873, T. angustata Uvarov 1922, Phaneroptera spinosa Bei-Beienko 1965, P. roseata Walker 1869, P. bivittata Be-Bienko 1954, P. gracilis Burmeister 1838, Holochlora japonica Brunner v...

We studied inter and intra-specific morphometrical variability across six species/subspecies of Chrotogonus Serville, 1838 (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae) consisting on Chrotogonus homalodemus homalodemus (Blanchard, 1836), C. homalodemus (Blanchard, 1836), C. trachypterus trachypterus (Blanchard, 1836), C. trachypterus robertsi Kirby, 1914, C. trachy...

Genus Chrotogonus has been reported to cause massive damage to agricultural crops where it exists. In past many of its sibling species were misidentified on morphological examination. However, DNA-based species assignments h a s now made it possible to overcome this barrier. In this study we present CO1 gene data set on the 6 species of Chrotogonus...

This study provides annotated list of 10 species and subspecies of subfamily Eumeninaein in Sindh province under 5 genera i.e. Delta, Knemodynerus, Antepipona, Allorhynchium, Antodynerus. Besides this, their bio-geographical affiliations have also been discussed. Of these species and subspecies 6 are part of the Oriental fauna, one is part of the A...

Environment is the predominant factor for deciding the appropriation and abundanceof Orthoptera species globally. During present study, the impact of major environmental factors on abrupt occurrence of Orthoptera species was examined. Orthopterans landed on vast agricultural fields of cotton, wheat, maize, sugarcane and other standing crops in fert...

Grasshoppers belong to Acridinae are polyphagous insects and cause severe Damage to agricultural crops of these Acrida exaltata, were reported as severe pest of cash crops in Sindh. During present study it was noted that immature stages of these species were more injurious to the crops than adults. It was therefore felt necessary, and attempt has b...

The desert locust has been a notorious pest since ancient times. A population upsurge hit Pakistan in 2019 and caused tremendous damage to agriculture and livelihoods. To take advantage of this ongoing upsurge, we conducted a field study to verify whether locust collection could be an interesting control method to protect crops in the event of an i...

Abstract: In result of extensive survey a total of 1949 specimens of Oedipodinae were collected during the year 2017 amongst this, 1417 were immature whilst 532 were adults. Captured material was sorted out into 03 tribe’s viz: Acrotilini, Epacromini and locustini offering 08 species. The species richness percentage was recorded 26.16%, 9.59%, 10.0...

DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF IMMATURE OEDIPODINAE (ACRIDIDAE: ORTHOPTERA)

As a result of this work 47 species of Tettigonioidea pertaining to 07 sub-families i-e: Pseudophyllinae, Phaneropterinae, Conocephalinae, Tettigoniinae, Hexacentrinae, Mecopodinae and Decticinae belonging to 20 tribes and 22 genera have been studied from Pakistan. The species Sathrophyllia nr. rugosa (Linnaeus, 1758) , S. femorata to sub-family...

The TIFY family is a plant-specific gene family that is involved in regulating a variety of plant processes, including developmental and defense responses. The chromosome-level genome of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) has recently been released, but a comprehensive view of the TIFY family in C. sinensis (the CsTIFY genes) is lacking. The current...

Species of genus Chrotogonus are known as surface grasshoppers which are polyphagous pest, multi-verses, terricolous and one of the common grasshopper species found in small grasses, bushes and often in crops (rice, maize, millet and cotton, etc.). Species belonging to genus Chrotogonus cover vast area in various countries of the old world (Africa...

We present diversity and habitat of various species of famil y Pyrgomorphidae eg: Chrotogonus (Chrotogonus) trachypterus trachypterus (Blanchard, 1836), Tenuitarsus orientalis Kevan, 1959, Poekilocerus pictus (Fabricius , 1775), Pyrgomorpha (Pyrgomorpha) bispinosa deserti Bey-Bienko & Mistshenko, 1951, and Atractomorpha acutipennis (Guerin-Menevill...

An extensive survey of Thar has been made during the year 2015 to 2016, in the result of this a total of 943 specimens were captured and sorted out into 25 species. Majority of specimens belong to Acrididae followed by Pyrgomorphidae while only single species i-e Dericorys tibialis (Pallas, 1773) related with Dericorythidae was come in collection....

biology of Oedaleus sengalensis from Hyderabad district, Sindh, Pakistan

The egg-pods of 04 species viz: Oxya hyla hyla Serville, 1831, O. velox (Fabricius, 1787), O. fuscovittata (Marschall, 1836) of genus Oxya and Oxyina bidentata (Willemse, 1925) of Oxyina were examined under laboratory conditions. Significant differences were found in the sizes and shapes of the pods. Beside this, number of eggs in each egg pod, dis...

In order to examine the efficacy of different biopesticides against insect pests of tomato, a field study was determined at the experimental area of Entomology Section, Agriculture Research Institute, (ARI) Tandojam during kharif 2013. Treatments were based on different biopesticides Neem (Azadirachta indica), Dhatura (Dhatura stramonium), Tooh (Ci...

The first two Records of Darkling Beetles (Tenebrionidae: Coleoptera)) from Lower Sindh, Pakistan

Main useful information on the Rice grasshopper Hieroglyphus banian : identification and diagnosis, distribution, hosts plants, plant damage & economic impact, reproductive biology, management (biological, cultural and chemical control, field monitoring), main information sources.

Main useful information on the Rice grasshopper Hieroglyphus banian : identification and diagnosis, distribution, hosts plants, plant damage & economic impact, reproductive biology, management (biological, cultural and chemical control, field monitoring), main information sources.

The study of Acridoidea is one of the significant work for the aim of insects systematic process. This Order Orthoptera comprised of insects with paurometabolus type metamorphosis,including grasshoppers,Crickts and locusts.During present work five species and subspecies of the genus Acrotylus were observed namely Acrotylus humbertianus (Saussure),...

Biodiversity, Biogeography & Ecology FACTORS AFFECTING SEASONAL DISPLACEMENT OF SCHISTOCERCA GREGARIA BETWEEN THAR AND BALUCHISTAN, PAKISTAN Ahmed Ali Samejo1, Riffat Sultana1 1 Department of Zoology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan, samejo_ali7@hotmail.com, riffatumer@hotmail.com

Adults as well as immature of Schistocerca gregaria are voracious vegetation consumer and destructive pest to the useful plants. Morphology and morphometry of immatures of desert locust in relation to gaining of body length and weight at each consecutive stage was carried out for the purpose of investigating the role of immatures in destruction of...

In result of extensive survey a total of 1949 specimens of oedipodinae were collected during the year 2017 amongst this, 1417 were immature while 532 were adults. Captured material was sorted out into 03 tribes' viz. Acrotilini, Epacromini and locustini offering 08 species. The species richness percentage was recorded 26.16%,9.59%,10.06%,17.75%,21...

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of undetected dysfunction of thyroid in patients with diabetes, determination of correlation between glycosylated Hb and thyroid hormones, and to find out the relationship between blood glucose control and function of thyroid in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus in comparison to...

Feeding behavior and SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY/EDS OF FOOD PLANTS

A new species Oxya kashmorensis (Oxyinae: Acrididae: Orthoptera) from Kashmore, Sindh, Pakistan is described and illustrated. We provide a comparison of Oxya kashmorensis sp.nov. and O. nitidula which is recorded from Pakistan for the first time. Comparative information on the female genitalia of both species is provided. Further, a note on the...