ASSESSING THE UPDATED DIVERSITY OF ORTHOPTERA IN NARA DESERT

During the present study, approximately 4,079 specimens were collected from various localities of the Nara Desert, Sindh, between 2022 and 2024. These specimens were sorted into 11 subfamilies, 25 genera, and 36 species. The identified species include: Acrida exaltata (Walker, 1859), Truxalisfitzgeraldi (Dirsh, 1950), Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål, 1775), Heteracris littoralis (Rambur, 1838), Chorthippus angulatus (Tarbinsky, 1927), Gonista rotundata (Uvarov, 1933), Hieroglyphus oryzivorus (Carl, 1916), H. nigrorepluteus (Bolívar, 1912), H. perpolita (Uvarov, 1933), Leptacrisazghar loonesis (Tokhai, et al.,, 1999), Acrotylus humbertianus (Saussure, 1884), A. longipes longipes (Charpentier, 1845), Sphingonotus (Sphingonotus) savignyi (Saussure, 1884), Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus, 1758), Trilophidia annulat (Thunberg, 1815), Oxyahyla (Serville,1831), Oxyafus covittata (Marschall, 1836), Chrotogonus (Chrotogonus) trachypterus (Blanchard,1836), Pyrgomorpha (Pyrgomorpha) bispinosa deserti (Bey-Bienko, 1951), Atractomorpha acutipennis blanchardi (Bolívar, 1905), Poekilocerus pictus (Fabricius, 1775), Callogryllus ovilongus (Saeed, Saeed and Yousuf, 2000), C. saeedi (Malik, et al.,, 2013), Gryllodes supplicans (Walker, 1859), G. sigillatus (Walker, 1869), Gryllus (Gryllus) campestris (Linnaeus, 1758), G. (Gryllus) bimaculatus (De Geer, 1773), G.(Gryllus) assimilis (Fabricius, 1775), Acheta domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758), Teleogryllus (Brachyteleogryllus) occipitalis (Serville, 1838), T. (Brachyteleogryllus) commodus (Walker, 1869), T. (Brachyteleogryllus) emma (Ohmachi and Matsuura, 1951), Euconocephalus pallidus (Redtenbacher, 1891), Schizodactylus monstrosus (Drury, 1773), and Schizodactylus minor (Ander, 1938). Among these species, Acheta domesticus had the highest number of specimens recorded, followed by Gryllodes sigillatus, while Teleogryllus occipitalis had the lowest. Other species exhibited notable population variability, with some becoming locally dominant and even acting as temporary keystone species. Overall, Orthopteran communities play essential roles in ecosystem functioning over extended periods. The findings indicate that agricultural lands have the potential to support insect diversity and may serve as effective refuges for certain species from adjacent rocky habitats. Given the ecological significance of these environments, the study recommends prioritizing their conservation to promote Orthopteran biodiversity and maintain ecological balance in the region.