Atractomorpha (grasshopper)

Not much is written about the biology of the Atractomorpha, but they are herbivores typical of the Orthoptera, so it is understandable that some species seem to be minor pests in gardens {{cite web |url=http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/atractomorpha/Interesting |title=The World's Best Photos of atractomorpha - Flickr Hive Mind |website=fiveprime.org |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414233735/http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/atractomorpha/Interesting |archive-date=14 April 2013 |url-status=dead}} and that some, such as Atractomorpha psittacina and Atractomorpha bedeli, are significant pests in rice.Shepard, B. M. Barrion, A. T. Litsinger J. A. Rice-Feeding Insects of Tropical Asia - Page 116. International Rice Research Institute. Manila, Philippines 1995 {{ISBN|971-22-0062-0}}

As with many grasshoppers in various families, the males are smaller than the females and ride on them long before copulation. They remain there during the period in which the female achieves sexual receptiveness. Similar strategies are common in vertebrates such as some amphibians, as well as various invertebrates, where the males attempt to keep rivals from mating with the female.

At least some Atractomorpha species also share a habit with various generally sedentary Orthoptera such as some Pamphagidae, of producing their excreta in the form of relatively few, large, elongated faecal pellets, one at a time. As each pellet emerges, they kick it a considerable distance away, using the tibia of one rear leg. This apparently is a strategy for avoiding the attentions of parasitoids and predators that otherwise might have been attracted to the smell of a host midden.Yosuke TANAKA, Eiiti KASUYA; Flying distance of frass kicked by the grasshopper Atractomorpha lata and factors affecting the flying distance; Entomological Science Volume 14, Issue 2, pages 133–141, April 2011Feedback, New Scientist Number 2810, page 64 and Number 2816, page 64

Atractomorpha are active during the day, and their usual habitat is reeds and grasses close to rivers or streams.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G0Z2wY2B2ncC&pg=PA168 |page=168 |title=Grasshopper Country: The Abundant Orthopteroid Insects of Australia |author=David C. Rentz

|publisher=UNSW Press |year=1996|isbn=9780868400631 }}

The genus name Atractomorpha is derived from the Greek language and means "spindle-shaped" or "arrow-shaped".{{cite book |author=Jaeger, Edmund C. | author-link=Edmund Jaeger |title=A Source-Book of Biological Names and Terms |url=https://archive.org/details/sourcebookofbiol0000jaeg |url-access=registration |publisher=Thomas |location=Springfield, Ill |year=1959 |isbn=0-398-06179-3 }} Various families of Orthoptera (including the Acrididae and Lentulidae) include genera whose species have similarly cone-shaped heads, and there are genera within the family Pyrgomorphidae (such as Phymateus and Dictyophorus) that do not have cone-shaped heads,{{cite book |author1=Alan Weaving |author2=Mike Picker |author3=Griffiths, Charles Llewellyn |title=Field Guide to Insects of South Africa |publisher=New Holland Publishers, Ltd |year=2003 |isbn=1-86872-713-0 }} so their superficial appearance may be misleading even for professionals not specifically active in that field.

File:Atractomorpha acutipennis female.jpg]]

File:Atractomorpha lata which copulates 08Oct4.jpg

The Orthoptera Species File[http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1120356 Orthoptera Species File: genus Atractomorpha Saussure, 1862 (retrieved 17 July 2024)] includes:

1. Atractomorpha aberrans {{Au|Karsch, 1888}}
2. Atractomorpha acutipennis {{Au|(Guérin-Méneville, 1844)}}
3. Atractomorpha angusta {{Au|Karsch, 1888}}
4. Atractomorpha australis {{Au|Rehn, 1907}}
5. Atractomorpha burri {{Au|Bolívar, 1905}}
6. Atractomorpha crenaticeps {{Au|(Blanchard, 1853)}}
7. Atractomorpha crenulata {{Au|(Fabricius, 1793)}} - type species (as Truxalis crenulatus {{Au|Fabricius}})
8. Atractomorpha dubia {{Au|Wang, Xiangyu, He & Mu, 1995}}
9. Atractomorpha fuscipennis {{Au|Liang, 1988}}
10. Atractomorpha himalayica {{Au|Bolívar, 1905}}
11. Atractomorpha hypoestes {{Au|Key & Kevan, 1980}}
12. Atractomorpha lata {{Au|(Mochulsky, 1866)}}
13. Atractomorpha melanostriga {{Au|Bi, 1981}}
14. Atractomorpha micropenna {{Au|Zheng, 1992}}
15. Atractomorpha nigripennis {{Au|Zheng, 2000}}
16. Atractomorpha occidentalis {{Au|Kevan & Chen, 1969}}
17. Atractomorpha orientalis {{Au|Kevan & Chen, 1969}}
18. Atractomorpha peregrina {{Au|Bi & Xia, 1981}}
19. Atractomorpha psittacina {{Au|(Haan, 1842)}}
20. Atractomorpha rhodoptera {{Au|Karsch, 1888}}
21. Atractomorpha rufopunctata {{Au|Bolívar, 1894}}
22. Atractomorpha sagittaris {{Au|Bi & Xia, 1981}}
23. Atractomorpha similis {{Au|Bolívar, 1884}}
24. Atractomorpha sinensis {{Au|Bolívar, 1905}}
25. Atractomorpha suzhouensis {{Au|Bi & Xia, 1981}}
26. Atractomorpha taiwanensis {{Au|Yin & Shi, 2007}}
27. Atractomorpha yunnanensis {{Au|Bi & Xia, 1981}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Atractomorpha|Atractomorpha}}
• {{Wikispecies inline|Atractomorpha (Pyrgomorphidae)|Atractomorpha}}
• [https://archive.today/20130414233735/http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/atractomorpha/Interesting Photographs]

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Category:Caelifera genera

Category:Pyrgomorphidae

Category:Taxa named by Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure