The reproductive system and sexual maturation in Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) were studied by dissecting males and females. The number of ovarioles per ovary ranged between 31 and 36: the closer a female is to the gregarious phase, as indicated by the ratio between the length of tegmen and the hind femur, the larger the number of ovarioles. Changes in the length of terminal oocyte and of body weight are associated with maturation of females, as revealed by the high correlation between these two parameters until the first oviposition in both field-collected and laboratory-reared females. Using these criteria, field samples of females were classified into nine categories, which correspond to the first three gonadotrophic cycles. Among field-collected D. maroccanus females, the number of corpora lutea per ovariole provides a good estimate of the number of egg pods laid per female. None of the field-collected females showed more than 2 corpora lutea.

The male genitalia are composed of a pair of testes, enclosed within a common sheath, with about 60 follicles, 15 pairs of accessory glands and one pair of seminal vesicles. Spermatogenic activity within the testicular follicles was studied by histological analysis. Spermatogonia divide mitotically throughout nymphal and adult life. Meiosis I is first observed in the third instar and spermiogenesis begins late in the fifth instar, being finished at adult emergence, at which time fully formed spermatozoa are observed. The number of sperm ultimately produced by a cyst was 64. Increasing body weight of males is proposed as a “marker” of sexual maturation since the presence of sperm in the seminal vesicle was not detected in any (>120) dissected males before they reached their basic weight, 7–10 days after emergence. This work provides simple criteria for assessing the maturation of D. maroccanus females and males and the realised reproductive potential of the species under field conditions.

Phasmotaenia lanyuhensis sp. nov. is described from four female and three male specimens collected in Lanyuh Island (south-east Taiwan). This species is characterized from others in the genus by its shorter hind wings, and shorter length of operculum. A key to females of the genus is provided; males have not previously been recorded. Adults and eggs are described and figured.

New data on the distribution and systematics of Turkish species of Poecilimon Fischer, 1853, are presented. A new species (Poecilimon demirsoyi sp. n.) and the insufficiently known females of Poecilimon birandi Karabag and Poecilimon haydari Ramme are described, and some new distributional records given.

Twenty species of Tettigoniidae are recorded from Jordan, 13 of them for the first time. Two new species are described, Uvarovistia rammei and Parapholidoptera willemsei. New status is proposed for Paradrymadusa philbyi Uvarov (= Scotodrymadusa philbyi) and for Platycleis (Incertana) erecta Uvarov (= Platycleis (Decorana) erecta).

We describe the development and appearance of Follicle Resorption Bodies (FRBs) and Oocyte Resorption Bodies (ORBs) in the grasshopper Romalea microptera (= guttata), and demonstrate that these structures can be used to determine the past ovipositional and environmental history of females. In R. microptera, one resorption body is deposited at the base of each ovariole following each gonotropic cycle. These structures are semi-permanent, and remain distinct for at least 8 wks and two additional ovipositions. Ovarioles that ovulate a mature, healthy oocyte, produce a cream-colored FRB. Ovarioles that resorb their oocyte, produce an orange-colored ORB. The number of FRBs equals the number of eggs laid, and the number of ORBs equals the number of oocytes resorbed. Healthy, well-fed R. microptera resorbed about a quarter of their developing oocytes. Starvation or other environmental or physiological stress increased the rate of oocyte resorption and thus increased the number of ORBs. By counting the number and type of resorption bodies in each ovariole, we determined the number of times a female laid, the number of oocytes resorbed, and the clutch size during each oviposition. These data were used to estimate the relative environmental stress experienced by laboratory females during each gonotropic cycle.

Oocyte resorption occurred frequently in 1° oocytes, and rarely in 2° oocytes. In healthy, well-fed females, oocyte resorption was temporally staggered, and thus the number of resorbing oocytes increased toward the end of each gonotrophic cycle. Adult virgin females maintained at low density with no male contact, resorbed fewer oocytes than females maintained at higher densities with males, suggesting that high densities or continual male harassment stressed females. In comparison to locusts, R. microptera were relatively slow to initiate oocyte resorption following starvation, requiring >12 d without food before massive resorption was detected.

During early 1999 the second author made an extensive search for specimens of Timema in southern and central California. Two undescribed species were found, T. petita and T. landelsensis. New collections provided additional data on T. monikensis Vickery & Sandoval, T. boharti Tinkham, and T. knulli Strohecker. The latter is reinstated as a valid species. A third new species, T. morongensis, received from a another researcher, also is described.

This work summarizes the preliminary taxonomic information available on the Orthoptera fauna of Hispaniola. Valid names, synonyms used in pertinent references, data on type specimens and species distributions are included. One hundred and three extant plus eight fossil species in Dominican amber are treated: Tridactylidae (1), Tetrigidae (12), Eumastacidae (10 1 fossil), Acrididae (20), Pyrgomorphidae (2), Tettigoniidae (22), Gryllidae (30 7 fossils), Anostostomatidae (3), Gryllacrididae (1), and Gryllotalpidae (2). Two genera of Tettigoniidae are recorded for the first time from the island.

The acridid grasshopper genus Dellia Stål is redescribed and compared to other genera of Copiocerinae. Two new species of Dellia (Dellia karstica spec. nov. and Dellia maroona spec. nov.) from the Cockpit Country, Jamaica, are described and illustrated. General morphology and coloration indicate that D. karstica is closely related to the previously described D. gemmicula Rehn & Hebard from the Jamaican Blue Mountains.

A new species of the genus Neometrypus collected in Cardoso Island in the Atlantic littoral of São Paulo State is described. The species is 2n=14 (male) – 14 (female) with a neoXY-XX sex determining mechanism originated in an X-autosome tandem fusion. Illustrations of the male and female specimens, male meiosis and drawings of the male genitalia sclerites are added.

The authors studied a rich collection of mantids from Ecuador, belonging to the Pontificia Universidad of Quito. Forty species were identified, among them 18 are new for the Ecuadorian fauna and Chopardiella poulaini is new to science.

Grasshopper populations (Orthoptera: Acrididae) were surveyed on reconstructed and remnant prairies in Wisconsin. Twenty-seven species were observed on 17 different sites. Most sites ranged from dry to mesic habitats. Two species were very common, Melanoplus femurrubrum and Chorthippus curtipennis, being found at 15 and 14 sites respectively; 12 species were collected only at one site. Reconstructed prairies generally lacked the overall grasshopper species diversity observed on remnant prairies, with one exception, Lake Wissota – a 48 ha reconstructed dry site that contained 10 species of grasshoppers. Important factors for grasshopper conservation and prairie restoration may not be dependent on the age of the restoration, but the size and type of prairie being reconstructed as well as proximity to remnant sites. Management plans that include fire should also consider those species that overwinter as nymphs.

A new subspecies of Pamphagidae (Purpuraria erna lanzarotensis) is provided, and additional distributions, and nomenclature changes of Orthoptera (sens. lat. to include Blattaria, Mantodea and Phasmida) of the Canary Islands. A significant inter-island difference in body size of the acridid Calliptamus plebeius is discussed.

A new genus, Aerotegmina is proposed for an East African Listroscelidinae species occurring in the montane forests of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Notes on distribution and habitat are given.

Two new species of the genus Amytta (Meconematinae) are described from the submontane and montane forest of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (East Africa). Notes on habitat demands of the species and the occurrence of syntopic Saltatoria are given.

This paper adds to Naskrecki's (1998) revision of the neotropical katydid genus Acantheremus. The male of Acantheremus granulatus Karny is described for the first time. A newly discovered Peruvian species from the rainforest canopy—Acantheremus arboreus Nickle, new species—is also described.