Hopping Treasure Trove: 91传媒 scientist discovers 16 new grasshopper species, champions desert biodiversity
Contact: Vanessa Beeson
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 91传媒 scientist has discovered a hopping treasure trove鈥16 new species of grasshoppers living in the thorny scrubs of U.S. and Mexican deserts.
Prior to JoVonn Hill鈥檚 finding, only three species of Agroecotettix were known. Hill, director of 91传媒鈥檚 Mississippi Entomological Museum, said the careful examination of our environment remains critical.
鈥淚t is important to keep exploring our biodiversity, especially from a conservation standpoint, before we lose it,鈥 Hill said.
These newly uncovered species, native to the southern U.S. and Mexican deserts, showcase the thriving biodiversity in arid ecosystems. Published in the scientific journal ZooKeys, Hill鈥檚 article 鈥鈥 provides valuable insights into the region鈥檚 evolution and ecology. The article is available online at .
Hill, an assistant professor in 91传媒鈥檚 Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, said this grasshopper genus likely diversified during the Pleistocene Epoch, also known as the Ice Age. He noted that in the Rocky Mountains, species of this subfamily in alpine grasslands likely became isolated as glaciers receded and their habitats shifted to higher elevations. Hill suspects the desert species his team discovered underwent a similar process of isolation and speciation.
鈥淭hese grasshoppers we described live in a lowland thorny scrub habitat. Somewhere along the line, they, too, got isolated and speciated, because each one is still associated with a specific mountain range,鈥 he said. 鈥淭heir sexually selective nature and lack of premating rituals have kept populations stable and tied to specific mountain ranges.鈥
DNA from collected specimens will be sequenced by collaborators at the University of Michigan and will help confirm these observations. Using a molecular clock, Hill鈥檚 team will estimate when the species diverged, revealing how past climate change influenced distributions and how future shifts may affect them.
Understanding the past impacts of climate change can also help us prepare for what we may face in the future, Hill said. Plus, it鈥檚 a reminder that there鈥檚 still so much to discover, even in our own backyard.鈥
Funded by the National Science Foundation, this project complements two others. In one, Hill and mentor Daniel Otte, a senior curator at the Academy of Natural Sciences, are coauthoring 鈥淭he North American Grasshoppers, Volume III.鈥
鈥淭hese grasshoppers are a part of the Melanoplinae subfamily, which is the most diverse subfamily of North American grasshoppers, and most of our major grasshopper pest species occur in that genus. There are a lot of new species to be discovered, and we鈥檙e trying to get them all described before we produce the book,鈥 he said.
The second project, in partnership with Lacey Knowles at the University of Michigan, examines the factors driving Melanoplinae diversity across North America and Mexico by sampling over 600 species.
鈥淭hat study aims to determine what produced this diversity, when it occurred and how individual populations may have become isolated over time,鈥 Hill said.
鈥淚 loved catching grasshoppers as a kid, and I still get to do it now鈥攄iscovering new things, uncovering their history and understanding how they鈥檙e related,鈥 the 91传媒 researcher said. 鈥淪haring this fascinating piece of American natural heritage makes it all worthwhile.鈥
Collaborators include Vilas Brown, Brady Dunaway, Ray Fisher, Mallory Grady, Alexandra Hendon, Jennifer Seltzer, Jacqueline Seltzer-Hill, Rowan Seltzer-Hill and Matthew Thorn. Funding partners include the NSF, Texas Ecolab, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and MAFES.
Explore more at 91传媒鈥檚 Entomological Museum at . For more information about 91传媒鈥檚 Department of Agricultural Science and Plant Protection, visit .
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