Acrida gigantea (Herbst, 1794)

Usmani, Mohd. Kamil & Nayeem, Md. Rashid, 2012, Studies on taxonomy and distribution of Acridoidea (Orthoptera) of Bihar, India, Journal of Threatened Taxa 4 (13), pp. 3190-3204 : 3198

22. Acrida gigantea (Herbst, 1794)

Diagnostic characters: Head conically ascending. Fastigium broad, laminate and truncate at apex. Transverse sulcus of pronotum present about the middle of pronotal disc. Male subgenital plate comparatively long. Tegmina a little produced beyond the hind knee and wings slightly shorter than tegmina. Lateral carinae with black inner margins.

Material examined: 2 males, 10.vii.2009, on paddy, Siwan; 1 male, 1 female, 5.vii.2009, on grasses, Darbhanga; 2 females, 19.vi.2009, on paddy, Rajgir, Nalanda; 1 female, 4.vii.2009, on underlying grasses in vegetable field, Saharsa; 1 female, 15.vi.2009, on paddy, Gaya; 1 male, 11.vi.2009, on paddy, Bhabua, Kaimur; 1 female, 24.x.2010, on grasses, Gopalganj; 1 female, 1 male, 7.vii.2009, on grasses, Muzaffarpur; 2 females, 13.vi.2009, on paddy, Sasaram, Rohtas; 1 male, 26.vi.2009, on paddy, Katihar; 1 male, 9.vi.2009, on paddy, Patna; 1 male, 8.vi.2009, on grasses, Begusarai; 1 male, 23.x.2010, on wheat, Chhapra, Saran.

Morphometry: (length in mm). Male: Body 31.45, Tegmina 22.0, Hind femur 17.3, Pronotum 4.3. Female: Body 50.1, Tegmina 45.65, Hind femur 31.4, Pronotum 9.65.

Remarks: Usually found in paddy and grasses and produces very striking stridulatory sound.

Natural enemies: This species was found to be parasitized by Eutrombidium trigonum.

Distribution: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand.