INTRODUCTION The orthopteran insects are almost terrestrial in habitats, found in trees, bushes, and other vegetation, from subterranean burrows and caves to tree tops, and from dense forest to savanna, prairie, and desert, but a few species are aquatic or semi-aquatic. The orthopteran include general scavengers, many voracious herbivorous, and some omnivorous, or at least polyphagous species. Most of the species are active, diurnal (most Caelifera), or nocturnal (many Ensifera) insects. Many species are camouflaged by colouration that resemble the background or foliage. Temperature, rain fall and soil conditions are some important factors, which determine the distribution of the orthopteran insects. The orthopteran insects feeding on crops and trees are most common biotic constituents of the grazing food chain. Different food chains are often interconnected, e.g. a specific herbivore of one food chain may serve as food of carnivores of several other food chains. These insects are also food for mammals, many birds, reptiles, amphibians and other predators. Phipps (1970) classified the grasshoppers habitats into 5 principle categories- thicket, woodland, long grass, short grass and cultivation, wherein he found that the species of subfamilies viz. Acridinae, Gomphocerinae, Hemiacridinae and Truxalinae were restricted to grasses and cultivation, while Catantopinae were found in thicket, with a number of species preferring grasses. The species of superfamily Acridoidea are highly economically important, which cause considerable damage to the crops and vegetable plants or forests. Coleman and Kannan (1911), Pruthi and Nigam (1939), Roonwal (1976), and Mandal et al. (1999) have also recorded some species of Acridoidea as a pest of crops and vegetables. Gastrimargus marmorata a species from South-east Asia, Assam to West Guinea, damages maize, rice, sorghum, citrus, sugarcanes, cocoa and oil palm (Roffey, 1979). The major pest of paddy is Hieroglypus banian (Fabricius) reported by Bhatia and Mathur (1964). Chowdhury and Majid (1954) reported this pest on rice from Assam. Sengupta and Behura (1960) estimated rice loss ranging from 25 to 95% in different parts of India by this pest. Hieroglyphus nigrorepletus is also reported pest of rice, sugar cane, hemp, maize, and sorghum in the Indo- Pakistan (Ghouri and Ahmed, 1960). Roychoudhury et al. (2003) reported 5 species of Orthoptera defoliating teak plantation in Madhya Pradesh. Joshi et al. (2004) reported 12 species of Orthoptera from various host plants in Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh. The studies conducted by Kandibane et. al. (2004) also indicated that Acrididae is dominant family in rice ecosystem. Mandal et. al. (2007) reported 38 species short-horned grasshoppers as pests of various crops. Recently, Paulraj et al. (2009) discussed these insects among the different habitats, where grasses supported the highest number of species in two districts of Tamil Nadu. The orthopteran insects are the dominant above ground invertebrates in pastures and natural grasslands (Scott et al., 1979; Risser et al., 1981). Orthopteran insects cause significant damage to tree seedlings and agricultural crops (Joshi et al., 1999). On the basis of host preference, Isely (1944) classified these grasshoppers as grass feeders (graminivorous), forb-feeders (forbivorous ) or a mix of these two (ambivorous or mixed feeders). The population decrease and fragmentation of many grasshoppers and katydids is mainly determined by grazing and landscape disturbances (building and road construction, ploughing , irrigation (Sergeev, 1998). In recent years, farmers are changing the cropping pattern and agronomical practices due to urbanization, labour problem and to get more profit from other crops. The changing scenario in agricultural is affecting the primary consumers like grasshoppers and thereby creating an impact on food web. So it is necessary to study the distribution of grasshoppers in relation to their habitats or host plants. Therefore, the present study was undertaken. Distribution of orthopteran insects among different habitats in three districts of Madhya Pradesh, India Kailash Chandra, S.K. Gupta and Rajesh Kumar* Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur (M.P.) *Division of Entomology, IARI, New Delhi INDIA ABSTRACT : During the survey in 2009, altogether 398 specimens of Orthoptera belonging to 27 species under 27 genera and 8 families were collected from different localities of Satna, Katni and Damoh districts by the survey team of Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur. The family Acrididae was found to be the most predominant group of grasshoppers represented by 11 species, followed by the family Tettigoniidae, represented by 4 species and 4 genera. Among the different habitats, grasses supported the highest number of species (17) followed by the Paddy field (8). Keywords : Orthoptera, Habitats, Madhya Pradesh Biological Forum — An International Journal, 1(2): 52-57(2009) ISSN : 0975-1130