Biodiversity of short-horned grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in the northern and southern slopes of the Jaghatai mountain range, Khorasan Razavi province, Iran

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 School of Biology and Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, College of Science, University of Tehran; Iran.

2 Department of Horticulture and Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran.

3 Jalal Afshar Zoological Museum, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.

10.22059/ijpps.2026.410747.1007115

Abstract

This study investigates the biodiversity and abundance of short-horned grasshoppers (Acrididae) in the Jaghatai mountain range,. Sampling was conducted during summer and autumn over two consecutive years (2021-2022) on the northern and southern slopes. On each slope, two sampling sites were selected at altitudes of 900 m and 1500 m. Sampling was carried out using insect nets along two transects (one transect in the northern slope and one transect in the southern slope) from the four designated stations. Specimens were mounted using standard entomological technique, and identified to species level using valid taxonomic keys. Biodiversity was assessed using the Shannon-Wiener diversity index Margalef richness index , and Pielou evenness index . Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. A total of 19 species of short-horned grasshoppers were collected . The Shannon-Wiener diversity index showed no significant difference between the two slopes (p-value = 0.2). Comparing different altitudes, the highest Shannon-Wiener diversity was observed at 1500 m altitude in both northern and southern slopes. Margalef richness index was higher in the southern slope (2.66) compared to the northern slope (2.21), while Pielou evenness index was higher in the northern slope (0.98) than in the southern slope (0.8). Regarding altitudinal comparison, the highest species richness was observed at 1500 m altitude (1.83), and the highest evenness was observed at 900 m altitude in the northern slope (0.9) and at 1500 m altitude in the southern slope (0.8). These findings demonstrate that slope aspect and altitude significantly influence the structure of grasshopper communities.

Keywords

Iranian Journal of Plant Protection Science

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 28 February 2026

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History

  • Receive Date: 15 February 2026
  • Revise Date: 26 February 2026
  • Accept Date: 28 February 2026

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