Description of two new species of Turanogryllini crickets (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllinae) from Cameroon, with identification keys for African species

During a Gryllidae survey in the Southern Cameroonian Plateau, two new species of the tribe Turanogryllini Otte, 1987 were discovered and described, namely Turanogryllus zamakoensis Um Nyobe, Kekeunou & Bilong Bilong sp. nov. and Neogryllopsis gorochovi Um Nyobe, Kekeunou & Ma sp. nov. This finding extends the known distribution of the genera Turanogryllus Tarbinsky, 1940 and Neogryllopsis Otte, 1983. New environments are also recorded for these crickets, and an identification key for African species is proposed for these two genera

Description of two new species of Turanogryllini crickets (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllinae) from Cameroon, with identification keys for African species

During a Gryllidae survey in the Southern Cameroonian Plateau, two new species of the tribe Turanogryllini Otte, 1987 were discovered and described, namely Turanogryllus zamakoensis Um Nyobe, Kekeunou & Bilong Bilong sp. nov. and Neogryllopsis gorochovi Um Nyobe, Kekeunou & Ma sp. nov. This finding extends the known distribution of the genera Turanogryllus Tarbinsky, 1940 and Neogryllopsis Otte, 1983. New environments are also recorded for these crickets, and an identification key for African species is proposed for these two genera

Morphology, development, and reproduction of Eyprepocnemis plorans ibandana (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in South Cameroon rainforests

Eyprepocnemis plorans ibandana is a very common grasshopper species in open environments and agricultural systems of tropical Africa. It is a pest that significantly benefits from forest degradation in southern Cameroon, hence the need to study the bioecology of this subspecies. We studied the reproduction as well as the morphological characteristics and development times of the post-embryonic instars of E. p. ibandana. Sixty-one adult pairs were obtained from sixth instar nymphs caught in grassy vegetation in the Nkolbisson area (Yaoundé) and bred in the laboratory. After hatching, the first instar nymphs were individually placed in cages and fed every two days using fresh leaves of Manihot esculenta. The postembryonic development of E. p. ibandana took six instars in the male and six to seven instars in the female. Mean nymphal development took 79.16 ± 0.51 days in males, 89.93 ± 0.58 days in 6 instar females and 94.96 ± 1.22 days in 7 instar females. The survival rate of the first instar was low (53%). However, from the second instar on the survival rate was very high (> 87%). Sexual dimorphism is distinct in adults, fifth and sixth nymphal instars. Adults of E. p. ibandana took on average 32.57 ± 3.88 days to start mating, and mating lasted 2.12 h on average (1–3 h). Oviposition took place on average 52.03 ± 5 days after first mating; each female deposited one to eleven oothecae with an average of 34.93 ± 2.37 eggs per ootheca. Our study provides important information for the control of this subspecies in southern Cameroon