Grasshopper-parasite
Guides
Acemyini
Acemyini is a small, cosmopolitan tribe of tachinid flies comprising approximately seven genera. All members are parasitoids specializing on Orthoptera, specifically grasshoppers and their relatives in the families Acrididae and Eumastacidae. The tribe is distinguished by unique bristle arrangements on the scutellum and wing veins that separate it from other Tachinidae.
Acridomyia
Acridomyia is a genus of flies in the family Anthomyiidae, established by Stackelberg in 1929. The genus is native to Eurasia and contains parasitic species that attack grasshoppers (Acrididae). A. sacharovi has been investigated as a potential biological control agent for grasshopper populations in North America.
Blaesoxipha
Grasshopper Flesh Flies
Blaesoxipha is a genus of flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) with cosmopolitan distribution. Species in this genus are parasitoids, primarily attacking grasshoppers and related orthopterans. Some species have been documented as agents of myiasis in vertebrates. The genus includes notable species such as B. plinthopyga, which can cause myiasis, and B. redempta, a parasitoid of Stauroderus scalaris distributed across the Palearctic realm.
Conophorus sackenii
Conophorus sackenii is a species of bee fly (family Bombyliidae) described by Johnson & Maughan in 1953. It belongs to the tribe Conophorini within the subfamily Bombyliinae. The species is known from western North America, with records from western Canada and the western United States.
Eutrombidium
Eutrombidium is a genus of parasitic mites in the family Microtrombidiidae. Larval stages are ectoparasites primarily of grasshoppers and related orthopterans, with some records from beetles and crickets. The genus has been documented across Australia, Asia (Laos, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Iran, Pakistan), and Europe. Attachment sites on hosts include leg insertions and the prosternum.
Macroteleia
Macroteleia is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Scelionidae (historically placed in Platygastridae). The genus contains more than 140 described species worldwide. Species in this genus are believed to be parasitoids of eggs of longhorned grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). A 2013 revision of Chinese Macroteleia recognized 17 species in that region, including 7 newly described species.
Neorhynchocephalus
tangle-veined flies
Neorhynchocephalus is a genus of tangle-veined flies (family Nemestrinidae) first described by Lichtwardt in 1909. The genus comprises seven extant species and three fossil species. Members of this genus are parasitoids whose larvae develop inside grasshopper hosts. Neorhynchocephalus sackenii has been documented as a significant parasite of rangeland grasshoppers in western North America, with parasitism rates reaching up to 24 percent in field studies.
Neorhynchocephalus sackenii
tangle-veined fly
Neorhynchocephalus sackenii is a species of tangle-veined fly in the family Nemestrinidae. It is known primarily as a parasitoid of grasshoppers, with documented associations to at least two rangeland grasshopper species in western North America. The species constructs specialized respiratory pores in its host and has been observed to cause significant mortality in grasshopper populations, with parasitism rates varying from 0 to 40 percent in field studies.
Poecilanthrax sackenii
Poecilanthrax sackenii is a North American bee fly in the family Bombyliidae. The genus Poecilanthrax contains approximately 35 species distributed from Canada through Central America, with greatest diversity in the Great Basin region. Larvae of Poecilanthrax species develop as parasitoids within caterpillars of cutworms and armyworms (family Noctuidae). The species P. sackenii specifically has been documented as a parasitoid of grasshoppers, with the tangleveined fly Neorhynchocephalus sackenii (originally described as Sackenia sackenii) being a principal dipterous parasite of the valley grasshopper (Oedaleonotus enigma) and ebony grasshopper (Boopedon nubilum).
Scelio
Scelio is a large genus of parasitoid wasps containing at least 240 and possibly 500 species, making it the most diverse genus within the family Scelionidae. These wasps are solitary egg parasitoids of grasshoppers (Acrididae, Orthoptera), including economically important pest locusts such as Schistocerca. They have a cosmopolitan distribution and have been studied extensively for their potential as biological control agents against orthopteran agricultural pests.