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15 August 2020 Identification of Edible Short- and Long-Horned Grasshoppers and Their Host Plants in East Africa
Alfonce Leonard, Fathiya M. Khamis, James P. Egonyu, Samuel Kyamanywa, Sunday Ekesi, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Robert S. Copeland, Sevgan Subramanian
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Abstract

There is a paucity of information on the edible grasshoppers and their host plants in East Africa. This study adopted morphological and molecular analysis to identify edible grasshoppers in Kenya and Uganda. The associated host plants were identified through molecular analysis of the gut contents of the grasshoppers. The cytochrome b and 16s gene primers were used for grasshopper DNA analysis; while matK gene primers were used for plant DNA analysis. All long-horned grasshoppers sampled were identified as Ruspolia differens (Serville) (Orthoptera: Tettigonidae); whereas short-horned grasshoppers were identified as Acanthacris ruficornis (Fabricius) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and Cyrtacanthacris tatarica (L.) (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Host plants of A. ruficornis were Achyranthes aspera (L.), Centella virgata L.f. Drude, Digitaria gayana (Kunth), Galinsoga quadriradiata Ruiz and Pavon, and Triumfetta pilosa Roth; whereas those of C. tatarica were Alysicarpus rugosus (Willd.) DC and Teramnus uncinatus (L.) SW. Host plants of R. differens were Ageratum conyzoides (L.), Citrus depressa Hayata, Cynodon dactylon (L.), D. gayana, Eragrostis mexicana Hornem, Eucalyptus saligna SM., Indigofera arrecta Hochst. ex A. Rich., Persicaria nepalensis (L.), and Sorghum halepense (L.). Information on the host plants of edible grasshoppers can help in the development of their mass rearing protocols.

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Alfonce Leonard, Fathiya M. Khamis, James P. Egonyu, Samuel Kyamanywa, Sunday Ekesi, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Robert S. Copeland, and Sevgan Subramanian "Identification of Edible Short- and Long-Horned Grasshoppers and Their Host Plants in East Africa," Journal of Economic Entomology 113(5), 2150-2162, (15 August 2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaa166
Received: 26 March 2020; Accepted: 5 July 2020; Published: 15 August 2020
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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KEYWORDS
Acrididae
edible insect
gut content analysis
molecular identification
Tettigoniidae
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