Biodiversity and Biosystematics of Acridoidea of Southern Libya

Locusts and grasshoppers (Acridoidea : Orthoptera) constitute an economically important group of Orthopterous pests and are well known for their destructiveness all over the world.They cause considerable damage to agricultural crops, pastures and forests. Locusts and grasshoppers have invaded green crops from the earliest days to present time. Locusts are the main pests in countries bordering deserts. They are distributed throughout the world. The importance of Acridoidea in agricultural productivity is well established.While on one hand the plant protection workers are dependent on the correct identification of pest/parasite for any success in crop management, on the other hand the ecologists working at the ecosystem level,community level or below, are solely dependent on good taxonomic information, as ecologists study population changes in different habitats or seasons for differences in community structure, or concentrate on ecological processes and taxa involved.It is essential that the basic data on living organism be accurate.It is in the light of the above statement that the book would be immense help to researcher as well as students beginning their career in Acridology.

Autorentext

The first author, Dr. Mohd. Kamil Usmani is Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He did his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in taxonomy in 1979 and 1982 respectively. Since then he is working on taxonomy, biology and ecology of Acridids and Aphids and at present is one of the leading authorities on this group.