Proceeding from the revision of the genus Proscopia Klug 1820, two groups of species are separated which do not have the characters of that genus. These species are grouped forming two new genera: Paraproscopia n. gen. and Pseudoproscopia n. gen. Both are described here, together with Carbonellis n. gen., a genus that contains two new species and one junior synonym. The type species are defined, tables of dimensions and keys for the identification of species provided, and new species described, principally from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History of París, France, the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Museu de Zoologia of Universidade de Sao Paulo and the Museu de Río de Janeiro, Brasil.

Proscopiini, new tribe (Proscopiidae, Proscopiinae) is here defined. As presently known, it includes six genera and a considerable number of species. A description of the tribe and keys for the recognition of its males and females to genera are given. As is the case with the tribe Tetanorhynchini (Bentos-Pereira 2003a), the species in this new tribe are very homogeneous in their external anatomy, which has been, in the past, the cause of a general confusion in its taxonomy and the making of many synonymies.

The song of Metrioptera caprai baccettii Galvagni 1958, an endemic subspecies of the Monti Sibillini region of Central Italy, is here described. The calling song consists of long series of polysyllabic echemes and differs from conspecific subsp. in having the lowest echeme repetition rate. The main differences between the subspecies lie in morphological characters: male subgenital plate, female ovipositor, lowest number of stridulatory pegs.

Les auteurs dressent un bilan bio-écologique et bio-géographique comparatif des deux principaux locustes ravageurs du Pérou. Schistocerca cf. interrita Scudder 1899, qui de 1997 à 2003 a grégarisé et envahi les départements de Lambayeque et Cajamarca et Schistocerca piceifrons peruviana Lynch Arribalzaga 1903 dont les pullulations chroniques perdurent dans le centre-sud du pays. Les données analysées ont été collectées, entre 2000 et 2003, au cours du “Programme d'assistance à la lutte anti-acridienne au Pérou” (FAO-SENASA, Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria). Une meilleure connaissance de la bio-écologie permet d'affiner les stratégie de surveillance et de lutte préventive contre ces deux ravageurs.

The effects of four extracts of Solanum sodomaeum fruit peel (Solanaceae) were observed in the laboratory on Schistocera gregaria fifth instar larvae. Larvae fed with lettuce soaked in various extracts showed a decrease in their food consumption, due probably to a repulsive and antifeedant effect of this plant. Both survival and development were affected: prolongation of the fifth instar and the appearance of malformations at the imaginal molt.

Species of the tettigoniid genus Isophya are indicators of biogeographical history and also measures of the state of nature conservation in the Carpathian Basin and in Europe. We surveyed the occurrence and habitat preference of five species (I. camptoxypha, I. costata, I. kraussii, I. modesta, I. modestior) living in the Transdanubian region (the western part of the Pannonian biogeographical region) to determine the potential for the preservation of the insects and their habitats. Statistical analysis shows the optimal habitats of I. camptoxypha are patches of herbaceous plants and lower shrub layers within natural forests dominated by tall or medium-height broad-leafed (mainly dicotyledonous) mesophytic forest species. For I. camptoxypha smaller clearings, and the forest ecotones containing the aforementioned plant species are suboptimal, and populations of the insect species occur there at a significantly lower density. Present-day I. costata find optimal conditions in highly natural, loess grasslands or mesophytic hayfields and steppe grassland–hayfield transitions rich in plant species. This same Isophya species at a lower density can be found in grasslands having suboptimal conditions, but with a similar habitat physiognomy, adjoining the abovementioned grasslands or developing through their slight degradation. Based on a critical literature review and our own sampling, we also comment on the habitat choice of a further three species (I. kraussii, I. modesta, I. modestior).

In the laboratory, we measured the nonfeeding periods that precede and follow molting and hatching in the lubber grasshopper, Romalea microptera. New hatchlings first fed ~ 16 h after egg eclosion. A similar ~ 12-h nonfeeding period was observed after each molt. In contrast, the premolt nonfeeding period increased from 25 h for the 1^st molt, to 64 h for the adult molt. In total, hatch- and molt-related nonfeeding periods comprised ~ 272 h, or 21% of the total 54-d nymphal development period. Scientists need to be aware of molt-related nonfeeding periods in arthropods, because they could influence nutrition, growth, physiology, feeding ecology, predator exposure, and life history. They may also hamper pest control, because short-lived poison baits or ingestion-dependent insecticides will not harm individuals that are not feeding. In this study, grasshoppers tended to molt near the beginning of the photophase. Early morning molting might have nutritional, thermal, humidity, or antipredator benefits for grasshoppers in the field.

The phallic anatomy of all the modern Hispaniolan eumastacids and of representative species of all genera of the Central American Episactinae has been examined. Two new genera, Neibamastax from the Dominican Republic and Paralethus from El Salvador, are erected to accomodate species which were found to have very divergent phallic morphology. Additionally, we have examined isolated species of the Teicophryinae and Miraculinae. A cladistic analysis of the Central American and Hispaniolan genera was performed, which divides these into two well-supported monophyletic clades, corresponding to the two areas of distribution. These we equate with the Episactinae Burr 1903 and the Espagnolinae Rehn 1948, and offer diagnoses of these two subfamilies. We present new data from the Teicophryinae which supports their inclusion in the Episactidae as well.

The new species Espagnolopsis exaltata Perez-Gelabert & Rowell is described from the mountains north of Ocoa, Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. Also described is the hitherto unknown adult male of Antillacris explicatrix Rehn & Rehn 1939, a relatively rare high mountain species. The variation exhibited by the most widely distributed episactid species in the island, Espagnola darlingtoni, is investigated through a comparative analysis of male and female genital features in several populations. Usually the female subgenital plate of eumastacoids shows a species-specific morphology. We find that most of the apparent variation between populations is confined to the female subgenital plate, while the males are much more homogeneous. We conclude that our sample represents a single, somewhat variable species. Additionally, the transfer of Tainacris divergentis Perez et al. 1997 to the new genus Neibamastax Rowell & Perez-Gelabert (see paper this issue) prompted the need to review the evidence for the distinctiveness of the two other species included in Tainacris. Differences are found in both the female subgenital plate and the male internal genitalia. The earlier conclusion that these populations represent different species is supported.

New species of Horatosphaga Schaum 1853 are described from the East African highlands. Horatosphaga sabuk n. sp. occurs in montane forest clearings of the Kenyan highlands, while Horatosphaga nou n. sp. is found in montane forest clearings of the Manyara District of Tanzania. Notes on habitat and co-occurring Saltatoria species are given.