Orthopteran biodiversity of Thar Desert,Sindh,Pakistan

During the present study 29 species of grasshopper (orthoptera) were collected from desert area of tharparkar,umerkot,sanghar and badin distracts of sindh. of these 24 belong to acrididae,4 to pyrgomorphidae and one species to tetrigidae. the genus criotettix is recorded from low sea level from desert area for the first time. this single collected individual is very closely related to criotettix latifrons hebard (1929). in this paper its comparison with other known species in the sub-continent is also provided. in addition to this,relationship of the life-forms of the species in relation to various bio-geographical elements was also examined. out of 29 species of grasshoppers seven were geophiles,while 16 were phytophiles and remaining six were intermediate. copyright 2013 zoological society of pakistan.