Aiolopus thalassinus thalassinus (Fabricius, 1781)

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 : 3199-3200

27. Aiolopus thalassinus thalassinus (Fabricius, 1781)

Diagnostic characters: Medium sized insect, tegmina and wings fully developed, head acutely conical, antennae filiform,as long as or longer than head and pronotum together, fastigium of vertex elongateangular, slightly concave, with well developed lateral carinulae, frons oblique; frontal ridge flat, pronotum slightly tectiform and slightly constricted in prozona, median carina weak, medial area of tegmen with intercalary vein well developed and finely serrated, hind femur slender, hind tibia with inner pair of spines longer than external one, external apical spine absent, arolium of small size, Frontal ridge of uniform width with nearly parallel margins, foveolae shorter, hind tibia coloured as in tumulus but with a dark ring before the middle and without the bluish median part.

Material examined: 1 female, 25.x.2010, on wheat, Motihari, Purba Champaran; 3 males, 23.x.2010, on wheat, Chhapra, Saran.

Morphometry: (length in mm). Male: Body 25.8, Tegmina 20.05, Hind femur 11.85, Pronotum 3.75. Female: Body 33.1, Tegmina 26.75, Hind femur 16.2, Pronotum 5.15.

Remarks: Commonly found in vegetable fields of brinjal, lady finger, tomato and also in paddy fields.

Natural enemies: Red mite identified as Eutrombidium trigonum was found to infect the insect.

Distribution: West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab.