Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats
Tetrigidae are an ancient group of grasshoppers and, similar to many other insects, have associations and preferences for specific microhabitats and habitats. The ecology of pygmy grasshoppers in Southeast Asia is generally under studied, especially in threatened habitats such as freshwat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pensoft Publishers
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Orthoptera Research |
| Online Access: | https://jor.pensoft.net/article/14551/ |
| _version_ | 1828296852194197504 |
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| author | Ming Kai Tan Huiqing Yeo Wei Song Hwang |
| author_facet | Ming Kai Tan Huiqing Yeo Wei Song Hwang |
| author_sort | Ming Kai Tan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tetrigidae
are an ancient group of grasshoppers and, similar to many other insects, have associations and preferences for specific microhabitats and habitats. The ecology of pygmy grasshoppers in Southeast Asia is generally under studied, especially in threatened habitats such as freshwater swamp forests. A study in Nee Soon Swamp forest, Singapore, was conducted to investigate association of limno-terrestrial pygmy grasshoppers with waterbodies and microhabitat. Specifically, we looked at the abundance and species assemblage of all pygmy grasshoppers. We correlated the abundance with major gradients of variation summarizing substrate and vegetation types along belt transects where sampling was performed. We found that pygmy grasshoppers in general are associated with wetter microhabitat conditions rather than the main streams in the swamp forest (i.e., water bodies). This is despite differences in microhabitat conditions of belt transects nearer to and further away from the main streams. We also found that pygmy grasshopper abundance is associated with the wetness of dicot leaf litter. We inferred that the abundance of food resources and suitability for egg development may explain their preference for wet microhabitats. We also found that the same patterns applied for adults and juveniles, suggesting that there is no demographic difference or ontogenetic shift in microhabitat association. Lastly, the adult assemblage can also be correlated to microhabitats. Based on our findings, we propose that pygmy grasshoppers can also be suitable bio-indicators for the freshwater swamp forest, owing to their sensitivity to microhabitat conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:18:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3f36f8598e9c48f6ab43e53f196da067 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1082-6467 1937-2426 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:18:09Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Pensoft Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Orthoptera Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-3f36f8598e9c48f6ab43e53f196da0672022-12-22T02:47:18ZengPensoft PublishersJournal of Orthoptera Research1082-64671937-24262017-06-01261738010.3897/jor.26.1455114551Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitatsMing Kai Tan0Huiqing Yeo1Wei Song Hwang2National University of SingaporeNational Environment AgencyLee Kong Chian Natural History MuseumTetrigidae are an ancient group of grasshoppers and, similar to many other insects, have associations and preferences for specific microhabitats and habitats. The ecology of pygmy grasshoppers in Southeast Asia is generally under studied, especially in threatened habitats such as freshwater swamp forests. A study in Nee Soon Swamp forest, Singapore, was conducted to investigate association of limno-terrestrial pygmy grasshoppers with waterbodies and microhabitat. Specifically, we looked at the abundance and species assemblage of all pygmy grasshoppers. We correlated the abundance with major gradients of variation summarizing substrate and vegetation types along belt transects where sampling was performed. We found that pygmy grasshoppers in general are associated with wetter microhabitat conditions rather than the main streams in the swamp forest (i.e., water bodies). This is despite differences in microhabitat conditions of belt transects nearer to and further away from the main streams. We also found that pygmy grasshopper abundance is associated with the wetness of dicot leaf litter. We inferred that the abundance of food resources and suitability for egg development may explain their preference for wet microhabitats. We also found that the same patterns applied for adults and juveniles, suggesting that there is no demographic difference or ontogenetic shift in microhabitat association. Lastly, the adult assemblage can also be correlated to microhabitats. Based on our findings, we propose that pygmy grasshoppers can also be suitable bio-indicators for the freshwater swamp forest, owing to their sensitivity to microhabitat conditions.https://jor.pensoft.net/article/14551/ |
| spellingShingle | Ming Kai Tan Huiqing Yeo Wei Song Hwang Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats Journal of Orthoptera Research |
| title | Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats |
| title_full | Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats |
| title_fullStr | Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats |
| title_short | Ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) in Southeast Asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats |
| title_sort | ground dwelling pygmy grasshoppers orthoptera tetrigidae in southeast asian tropical freshwater swamp forest prefer wet microhabitats |
| url | https://jor.pensoft.net/article/14551/ |
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