UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

This study presents a checklist and zonal distribution account of short-horned grasshoppers associated with major crop ecosystems in Telangana, India. The inventory was prepared using data generated from extensive field surveys conducted across the North Telangana Zone, Central Telangana Zone and South Telangana Zone, representing the major agro-climatic regions of Telangana, together with authenticated specimens preserved in the Insect Biosystematics Laboratory, Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The checklist was further updated in accordance with the current nomenclature and classification provided by the Orthoptera Species File. A total of 21 species belonging to 18 genera, 11 subfamilies and two families, Acrididae and Pyrgomorphidae, were documented from the major crop ecosystems of Telangana. Among the recorded taxa, species of Atractomorpha, Chrotogonus, Poekilocerus, Oxya, Hieroglyphus, Acrida and Cyrtacanthacris were widely distributed across the three agro-climatic zones, whereas a few species exhibited restricted zonal distributions. The checklist provides updated information on the taxonomy, type locality, type depository and distribution of each species within Telangana. This is the first comprehensive checklist of short-horned grasshoppers associated with the major crop ecosystems of Telangana and provides baseline information for future taxonomic, biodiversity, ecological and pest-management studies in the state.