Anacridium melanorhodon arabafrum Dirsh & Uvarov, 1953

Felix, Rob, Bouwman, Jaap, Odé, Baudewijn, Ketelaar, Robert, Pham, Duc Minh & Bailey, James, 2025, The grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): a comprehensive overview and a description of a new Oecanthus Tree Cricket (Oecanthidae), Contributions to Entomology 75 (1), pp. 21-166 : 21-166

Anacridium melanorhodon arabafrum Dirsh & Uvarov, 1953

Fig. 30

References for Socotra.

Taschenberg 1883: 185 [as Acridium tataricum var. moestum ]; Burr 1903: 412, 421 [as Acridium tataricum var. moestum ]; Krauss 1907: 29 [as Acridium moestum ]; Dirsh and Uvarov 1953: 23–24; Popov (in Uvarov and Popov (1957)): 375; Popov and Ratcliffe 1968: 24; Wranik 1998: 171; Wranik 2003: 322, plates 152, 156.

Diagnostic notes.

Grasshoppers of the genus Anacridium Uvarov, 1923 are huge. The pronotum is roof-like with a distinct median carina, incised by three transverse sulci. A pinkish or orange line runs mid-dorsally over the head and pronotum. The hind wings have a dark wing disc and the hind tibiae are adorned with robust spines. The male subgenital plate is deeply trilobate with obtuse lobes. A. m. arabafrum is the only member of the genus in the Archipelago and the largest grasshopper species present.

Taxonomic notes.

Anacridium is a predominantly African genus with thirteen species ( Cigliano et al. 2024 a), which are identified by the trilobate subgenital plate, the extent of the dark hind-wing disc and the shape of the sulci in the median carina of the pronotum ( Dirsh and Uvarov 1953). A. melanorhodon (Walker, 1870) has two subspecies, of which the nominate occurs in the western and A. m. arabafrum in the eastern part of its distribution.

Distribution and occurrence.

Anacridium m. arabafrum occurs from Ethiopia and Sudan eastwards into Yemen and Saudi Arabia. On Socotra, it appears to be relatively scarce, with only a handful of widespread records at lower elevations (Fig. 30 ). Burr (1898, 1903) mentioned nymphs of Acridium sp. , which may refer to this species.

Habitat and biology.

Anacridium are known as “ tree locusts ” and feed on trees, especially Acacia , Balanites and Zizyphus . They sometimes damage fruit trees (e. g. dates, citrus) and other woody plant crops ( Lecoq and Zhang 2019; Hemp and Rowell 2020). Records on Socotra are from sparse dwarf and low Croton - Jatropha shrubland from 25–400 m a. s. l., nearly from all seasons.

Figures

Figure 30. Distribution of Anacridium melanorhodon arabafrum Dirsh & Uvarov, 1953 in the Socotra Archipelago.